The Jan Lokpal Andolan and alternate politics: Symbiotic interactions, vernacular publics, and news media in the Jan Lokpal Andolan

This chapter focuses on the complexity of the articulation of populism in jan andolans and their symbiotic interaction with the news media. In 2011, the an Lokpal Andolan (JLA) claimed the public space, albeit temporarily, and was able to cut across social differences, contradictory claims, and issues to articulate equivalence on the platform of anti-corruption and the need for a lokpal. The chapter discusses some of the commentary on the Jan Lokpal Andolan and the context of alternate politics. It discusses how the category of self-constituting ‘publics’ that are fostered through changing patterns in media consumption offers an alternative approach to class analysis. The chapter also discusses the symbiotic interaction between the jan andolan and the news media. The JLA has confounded any analysis of the political and orchestrated spectacle in the news media, especially on television.