India: Social Activist Hazare Fasts as Parliament Debates Bill

MUMBAI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Amidst cheering supporters, social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday began a three-day fast here in protest against a "weak" Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill even as India's Parliament in New Delhi initiated a debate on the proposed anti-corruption law.

Hazare, 74, who is suffering from a viral infection, arrived at the MMRDA grounds, the venue of the fast in suburban Mumbai, along with his close aides Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia to a thunderous applause, reports Press Trust of India (PTI).

In New Delhi, Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, started a discussion on the bill.

However, Team Anna's protest elicited a lukewarm response in the Indian capital with supporters blaming the winter chill and absence of Anna Hazare for the low turnout at the Ramlila Maidan grounds.

Hazare was initially to sit on the 3-day fast from Tuesday in New Delhi but the venue for the Hazare fast was changed to Mumbai taking into consideration the weather in the capital.

Prashant Bhushan, a Team Anna member and one of the persons sitting on 3-day fast in Delhi, blamed the chilly and foggy weather for the low turnout in the morning.

Explaining the need for protest, Bhushan said the Bill in its present form is unacceptable. Protest will continue as well as jail bharo (fill the jails) agitation, he added.

Team Anna has raised the pitch on Monday by pointing out "four non-negotiable" demands for calling off their jail bharo agitation which included provision for an independent investigating agency for the anti-corruption ombudsman. -- NNN-BERNAMA