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 said: 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 10 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 BJP won the polls,adding,the outgoing Congress government had allegedly indulged in heavy corruption. In addition,the 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 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,the BJP would have been wiped out in Uttarkhand. The BJP made a tactical error by not replacing his predecessor Ramesh Pokhriyal,who was perceived as very,very corrupt,much earlier.
