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Will a solitary fast by Baba Ramdev help in reining in corruption? In the past, we’ve seen that during such movements, people (especially celebrities or well known persons) go on a fast, then the government promises to look into the matter or yield to the protesters’ demands and after the stir is withdrawn, the government reneges on its promise.

So, Baba Ramdev’s protest seems to be one of those movements where the conclusion is going to be status quo (without the government actually having to yield to the promises of reining in corruption, getting back black money stashed abroad or disclosing names of persons who the money belongs to).

So, what do our politicians bank on during this kind of movement: The short memory of the public?

When such an agitation occurs, the government, if pushed to the corner, heeds to the demands made and when it comes to implementing them, it either tries to buy time or it does a complete about turn, and as I said, since public memory is short, the peoples’ voice also turns mute as days go by and everything is forgotten soon after.

This is the way governments, cutting across party lines, resolve issues. But the Baba’s movement has been a tad different. Even before the government heeded to the Baba’s demands, he has ended his fast. In fact, the government didn’t even want to discuss the issue.

The issue of corruption is so deeply embedded in our polity that it is unlikely that any government will agree to introduce a Bill to rein in corruption. If it does, it will get entangled in the noose it created.

The Baba’s fast had obviously put the government on its toes and the worrying point here for the government was Baba Ramdev’s health rather than his demand.

Baba Ramdev had been asked to withdraw his fast by another celebrity guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, which makes us wonder whether this step is at the request of the government as it will want to see Baba Ramdev (as well as its poll prospects) hale and hearty after this incident.

In case something serious happened to Baba Ramdev, the government would have fallen into an abyss and it is unlikely that it would be able to come out of it in the next elections.

In other words, if such a situation arises, the Congress government could stare at defeat in the forthcoming general elections to be held in 2014.

So, what will it take to root out corruption that is deeply embedded in our society?

Well, would intermittent apolitical mass movements by people of all walks of life lead towards a solution to the corruption issue? Although this could disrupt day to day functioning of our system, it would rattle the government to a certain extent unlike a one-time fast by Baba Ramdev.