PUNE, May 22: ``Ignore Hazare's agitation, and you would be in trouble,'' Manohar Joshi, then the leader of Shiv Sena in the House, had advised then chief minister Sharad Pawar, in January 1994. In 1997, the crusader against corruption has made Chief Minister Manohar Joshi follow his words, which many believe has brought him trouble from his mentor Bal Thackeray.

Hazare has avoided yet another predicament for the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government by breaking his fast hours after Joshi flew to Singapore. Hazare withdrawing his agitation which was equally unexpected as was his resorting to a fast-unto-death has raised several questions.

Has Hazare bailed out the Chief Minister after airing a near threat to the government by hinting at a `major' exposure, widely believed to be about the controversial 5000-acre Sahara Lake City in Western Ghats? This he has done at least thrice in the past, his critics maintained.

Or was it another successful attempt by the Chief Minister to buy political peace while he would be out of the country? Or has Hazare been taken for a ride?

The changing stance of the Joshi government during Hazare's 11-day fast and maun vrat, provoked by Thackeray hurling accusations against the Hind Swaraj Trust, was eloquent enough, political observers felt. Nevertheless, trusted aides of Hazare like former bureaucrat Avinash Dharmadhikari scoffed at any `political significance' of the crusader calling off his protest on Monday night.

Hazare critics are re-joining pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. The State cabinet in the first leg of Hazare's agitation took a stiff stand on the fast at Ralegan Siddhi finding no need to ``succumb to the pressure''. Subsequently the Chief Minister announced that the Hind Swaraj Trust papers would be scrutinised, before ordering a probe into Thackeray's allegations regarding misappropriation of Rs 22 crores. The same week, Joshi gave a clean chit to the Hind Swaraj Trust during his Ahmednagar tour. Hazare threatened to bare a land scam involving a Sena-BJP heavyweight. A written communique from the Chief Minister unambiguously contradicted Thackeray's accusations. And finally came the `tamed' revelations from Hazare dragging to the docks a comparatively `small fish'.

Confronted by the The Indian Express, Hazare simply brushed aside the notion of him nurturing a `soft corner' for Joshi. With a grin, Hazare averred that there was no need for him to show leniency to anybody.``We don't' expect anything from each other,'' he said. In the same breath, however, Hazare reiterated his view about Joshi's genuine interest in weeding out corruption in the government. ``But, Joshi cannot act on his own. He is literally holding together a circus. His hands are tied,'' Hazare said mounting a veiled attack against Thackeray.

Barely six months after taking over the reins in Mumbai in March 1995, Joshi had made Hazare put on hold his maun vrat protesting against the saffron alliance's failure in tackling alleged misdemeanours of government officials. Joshi tried another balancing act when he rushed down to Ralegan Siddhi in October 1996 and wooed the crusader to join hands with Thackeray and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan to ``chalk out'' the guidelines for eradication of corruption. This was after a determined Hazare, who in a letter, meant for Joshi's eyes only, had expressed the wish to end his life like Sane Guruji. (The freedom fighter writer disgusted with the `degradation of values' had ended his life in the early '50s.) The high-level committee never took shape.

Despite skepticism, Hazare is confident about the success of his agitation. The success lies in people turning fearless and coming forward to fight corruption on individual vis-a-vis social levels, he said.

``The government alone cannot end corruption. What is the government after all? You and me elect the people who comprise it,'' he added.

People of Ralegan Siddhi have been baffled by their saint's stance, yet they don't see any `politics' in it.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.