Anti-corruption mood worked in Goa but not in UP: Hegde

Key Team Anna member Justice N Santosh Hegde admitted on Wednesday that corruption and governance issues did not determine the outcome of Uttar Pradesh elections but said the anti-graft sentiment certainly worked in Goa.

Asked if Team Anna's campaign in Uttar Pradesh had an impact on polls, Hegde told PTI, "There is no evidence to that effect. If corruption was an issue, I don't think SP (Samajwadi party) would have got such a huge margin".

A former Supreme Court judge, he expressed the view that "governance does not seem to be an issue at all (in Uttar Pradesh", indicating that the SP won the polls for reasons other than issues of corruption and governance.  "They (people) have seen SP for ten years. SP never gave a good government," he said, also referring to media reports of some "law and order problems" immediately after SP swept to power.

But he asserted that anti-corruption mood certainly worked in Goa, where Bharatiya Janata Party won the polls, adding, the outgoing Congress government had allegedly indulged in "heavy corruption". In addition, BJP played its card very well by giving tickets to different communities.

Hegde, however, said the Team Anna movement would gather momentum going forward.  "Anna (Hazare) has decided to tour all over India". Even though there are no elections round the corner, it would certainly have a tremendous effect on governing parties, he said.

"But for the Anna movement, corruption would not have been that big an issue. Peoples' reaction to Anna's movement had a significant effect on public mind," the former Karnataka Lokayukta said.

He said the issue (fight against) of corruption – whether through Anna or general perception -- has gained a lot of support and "it has harmed many people who are presumed to be corrupt".

Hegde expressed the view that if B C Khanduri was not projected as chief ministerial candidate, BJP would have been "wiped out" in Uttarkhand. BJP made a "tactical error" by not replacing his predecessor Ramesh Pokhriyal, who was perceived as "very, very corrupt", much earlier.