How Anna transformed Yeddyurappa, Sushma Swaraj and Narayana Murthy

Anna’s revolution has not only galvanised the common man, it has also transformed some very powerful individuals in the country.

The chief minister of Karnataka Yeddyurappa who so far has been reeling under one charge of corruption after another has decided to turn into a new leaf. He is currently drawing up a list of all the assets he and his family have acquired including the land they have grabbed. Once the exercise is over, he plans to return all the ill gotten wealth to the state. And that’s not the end of it. He also plans to give up the chair of the chief minister that he has been clinging desperately to for so many months now despite the opposition from his own party. He has decided to spend the rest of his life emulating the Gandhian Hazare and leading a frugal existence. He is giving up his obsession about cricket and cricketers. Instead he will plant a million saplings across the state to raise awareness about environmental degradation.

How do I know all this? Arrey baba, If he wasn’t planning to do all this, why will he come out publicly in support of Anna Hazare? No one can be that out of touch with reality.

The leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj has also turned into a new leaf. You remember how way back in 2005, she had threatened to shave her head if Sonia Gandhi became the prime minister. Well Sonia didn’t...and Sushma lost her chance to shave her head. But now she is determined to get her mundan done as a mark of protest against all the illegal mining activities of the Reddy brothers. She is no longer interested in patronising them. She has realized how wrong she was in supporting the brothers.

How do I know all this? Arrey baba, if she wasn’t planning to do her mundan, why will she come out publicly in support of Anna Hazare and also talk about an all party meet to combat corruption. No one can be that duplicitous.

The chairman of Infosys, N R Narayana Murthy, has asked his leadership team to draw up a list of the land his organization has acquired in Karnataka, Andra Pradesh and various other Indian states by demanding it from the respective governments. He raised the pertinent question about how much land does an IT organization need for running the business. “Surely not hundreds of acres,” he thundered in a specially convened board meeting. His wife Sudha Murthy who is a board member was present in the meeting. She also chipped in by saying “We must be wise...not otherwise.” Mr Narayana Murthy also pledged that Infosys will go back to its initial vision of creating wealth for all its employees and to this end he and his family members would personally distribute more than 70% of the equity they hold to the employees of the organization or liquidate the shares to build more schools, roads and other infrastructure facilities in the cities where Infosys has offices.

How do I know all this? Arrey baba, if he wasn’t ready to put his money where his mouth is as most businessmen and industrialists are fond of saying, why will he come out in support of Anna Hazare and his crusade against corruption? No one can be that contradictory.

Now all we need to do from our side is to find out what time frame have all these worthy leaders set for achieving these personal milestones.

I am keenly awaiting their next set of public declarations. Are you?