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| Indian Parliament Passes Bill Forming Anticorruption Agency | Indian Parliament Passes Bill Forming Anticorruption Agency |
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| NEW DELHI — India’s Parliament gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill creating an independent anticorruption agency after more than four decades of debate and controversy over how to curb graft. | NEW DELHI — India’s Parliament gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill creating an independent anticorruption agency after more than four decades of debate and controversy over how to curb graft. |
| The lower house of Parliament voted to approve the bill on Wednesday, one day after the upper house did the same. With national elections scheduled for next spring, leaders of the governing Indian National Congress party had sought to change the party’s image by pushing the anticorruption measure through this week. The bill now goes to the president for his signature, a formality. | The lower house of Parliament voted to approve the bill on Wednesday, one day after the upper house did the same. With national elections scheduled for next spring, leaders of the governing Indian National Congress party had sought to change the party’s image by pushing the anticorruption measure through this week. The bill now goes to the president for his signature, a formality. |
| The creation of such an agency was the central demand of Anna Hazare, a social activist whose fasts and protests electrified the country in 2010 and brought thousands of people into the streets. But the bill had been stalled in the upper house for two years, stymied by squabbling among India’s political parties and by uneasiness among senior politicians about creating an agency with broad authority to investigate them. Mr. Hazare drew attention to the issue again last week with renewed fasts in his village in the state of Maharashtra. | The creation of such an agency was the central demand of Anna Hazare, a social activist whose fasts and protests electrified the country in 2010 and brought thousands of people into the streets. But the bill had been stalled in the upper house for two years, stymied by squabbling among India’s political parties and by uneasiness among senior politicians about creating an agency with broad authority to investigate them. Mr. Hazare drew attention to the issue again last week with renewed fasts in his village in the state of Maharashtra. |
| After news of the bill’s passage in the upper house reached him, Mr. Hazare addressed his jubilant supporters and thanked the members of Parliament who helped pass the bill. He broke his fast on Wednesday as his supporters waved national flags and sang nationalist songs. | After news of the bill’s passage in the upper house reached him, Mr. Hazare addressed his jubilant supporters and thanked the members of Parliament who helped pass the bill. He broke his fast on Wednesday as his supporters waved national flags and sang nationalist songs. |
| The political calculus also changed last week when the Congress party suffered severe defeats in four major state elections at the hands of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress got an especially unwelcome surprise in the state of Delhi, where it was also outpolled by an upstart group, the Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, party, whose sole issue was a promise to end corruption. | The political calculus also changed last week when the Congress party suffered severe defeats in four major state elections at the hands of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress got an especially unwelcome surprise in the state of Delhi, where it was also outpolled by an upstart group, the Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, party, whose sole issue was a promise to end corruption. |
| The national governing coalition, led by the Congress party, has been buffeted by repeated allegations of corruption, including one involving licenses to mine coal that directly involved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Other scandals revolved around the allocation of telecommunications spectrum and the construction of facilities for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. | The national governing coalition, led by the Congress party, has been buffeted by repeated allegations of corruption, including one involving licenses to mine coal that directly involved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Other scandals revolved around the allocation of telecommunications spectrum and the construction of facilities for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. |
Hari Kumar reported from New | Hari Kumar reported from New Delhi, and Gardiner Harris from Bangalore, India. |