Dear Team Anna, Forum Owners and/ or Moderators,

We've all been very enthusiastic supporters of Anna and Team Anna all along. Personally, I participated in the meets and rallies in Chennai in April and August, and I have been making postings in .indiaagainstcorruption.com forum, and I feel proud of my association.

However, I have a few VERY IMPORTANT & URGENT things to say. I presume that there are many who share similar views, based on my private discussions.

1. I supported Anna & Team Anna fully, though I had key reservations on a few issues. I still supported them 100% because in a war between evil and good, I thought I had to take a side, and not allow my personal views to come in the way of exhibition of support for the good against the evil. So, I set aside my reservations for a while.

Did we win this war against corruption or not? The jury is still out. But we did demonstrate to the world and to ourselves that a large section of the society is behind Anna.

Team Anna, I'm sure, did a lot to get the views of many people before coming up with the draft Jan Lokpal Bill and kept revising it. Surely, they could have done a lot more to elicit more views, also educating the aam aadmi on all related issues. For example, a common man had no way of knowing how he could access and read the draft bill, and where he could his suggestions, whether he is net-savvy, or just a literate, or even an illiterate. Still given their limitations, I think Team Anna did a great job.

But now that the dust has settled, and Anna's movement has gained traction, Team Anna should concentrate on (i) educating the aam aadmi, and (ii) seeking opinions from well-meaning opinion leaders. (I don't necessarily mean the direct and indirect Government backers, though consulting them also can't hurt; it will only add to Team Anna's crediblity.)

For example, please read the suggestions of Gurucharan Das in ToI today:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...ow/9939798.cms

Similarly, there are many like Chetan Bhagat, Soli Sorabjee, and Dr. Abdul Kalam who have their own views, and Team Anna should get the views of all such opinion leaders before forming its own views.

It is one thing to say, "we took the views of all who gave their views", but quite another to say, "we sought and got diverse viewpoints". Surely, Team Anna would be in a higher position of strength if it did the latter.

In fact, Team Anna should ideally expand its team. (Just like start-up companies expand their Boards after the start-up phase, as performance at higher level needs different and higher levels of expertise.)

This is NOT to reduce the importance of its current senior members like Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal; I have the highest regards for them, but their expertise is limited, inadequate at higher levels.

Obviously, there are more people backing Anna from outside Delhi than in Delhi. We have no way to directly meet and interact with anyone in Team Anna. So many of us make postings in this very forum, IndiaAgainstCorruption.com, and similar other forums like Facebook and Twitter, regularly, without even knowing if our views are only shared among ourselves or reach the eyes and ears of Team Anna.

There has never been any feedback to any of us from Team Anna to my knowledge. We don't even know if Team Anna is aware of this forum. There must be official statements and reactions from Team Anna to postings here.

How about those who don't access the net, and even illiterates? How will Team Anna communicate with these people? Team Anna also needs to find a good answer to this.

We are surely thankful to Anna for having taken up our cause. But in the process, Team Anna should also find ways to know and understand our views (meaning to include the views of ALL aam aadmi) regularly. Not just whether we're against corruption or not, but also on the details. That will be 'inner democracy'.

Bottom-line: Team Anna should establish communication channels with aam aadmi. This has to be a TOP PRIORITY. This doesn't mean we want Arvind Kejriwal or Kiran Bedi to interact with us. At least one person (preferably more than one) from Team Anna should be deputed to handle communication with aam aadmi.

2. The 'Honeymoon Period' is over for Team Anna (sorry for using such a term, but I'm just trying to make a point forcefully). I'll quote from an old nursery rhyme:
"There was an old owl lived in an oak
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard
O, if men were all like that wise bird!

The more Team Anna hear, and the less they speak, "the more wise" they will be reckoned. And it will only help the movement. The more they speak, the more they end up bringing in new issues, and drawing criticism. The sooner, the media and the public will lose interest and desert. And the opportunity of a great movement would have been squandered.

Taking up newer & newer issues piecemeal and issuing statements will dilute what Anna stands for, and surrender all the gains made so far.

Team Anna should consult the opinion leaders and aam aadmi and strategize first and come out with well thought out plans rather than keep issuing press releases frequently.

For example, on the issue of 'Right To Recall', I'm not sure if they have thought through it as completely as they did with the Jan Lokpal Bill, I'm also not sure whether as many people would back Team Anna as the numbers that backed 'Anti-Corruption' movement, as this touches the lives of people less. Though one may argue that 'Right To Recall' is also linked to 'Anti-Corruption' movement, the connection is not very strong, and may surely not be felt to be so by aan aadmi.

Anna has become a brand name synonymous with 'anti-corruption'. If he dilutes it with many demands and slogans, his support would evaporate in no time. The public will get disillusioned with Team Anna soon. They will go their own ways, making Anna movement a spent force.

If Team Anna wants to consolidate its gain, it may come up with just ONE CONCRETE ACTION PLAN that gives shape to an organization, This way, all further actions could be guided by the Aims, Goals & Objectives of this organization. Aam aadmi should be involved in its formation and membership drive, if any.

So, Anna will be able to re-position himself as a 'CITIZENS' WATCHDOG' or something like that.

3. Anna and Team Anna needs to make sure they don't give contradictory, confusing or inconsistent statements, which they have done in the past (e.g., initially they said they will settle for nothing less than 'only Jan Lokpal Bill' being placed before the parliament, views about Narendra Modi and Gujarat, etc.). And if they do, they should own up the mistakes.

Sure enough, handling questions from the Press and critical public may not be too easy, but having reached this far, Anna and Team Anna should learn these, as these are vital for popular support and the success of the movement. Here again, expanding the team to include Public Relations experts (who may only have to reflect the Team's views) will help.

This is just a start. We need to think and expand on this.


Thanks,

Ganesan.