Mumbai a blip, to widen base, says Team Anna

Still smarting from the Mumbai flop show, social activist Anna Hazare's team admitted on Friday that the timing of the fast was not appropriate and now it would broaden the base of the movement.

Still smarting from the Mumbai flop show, social activist Anna Hazare's team admitted on Friday that the timing of the fast was not appropriate and now it would broaden the base of the movement.

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On Thursday night drama in the Rajya Sabha, Team Anna - in a written statement - questioned House chairman Hamid Ansari's decision to "abruptly adjourn" the House without putting the amendments on vote.

Veteran lawyer Shanti Bhushan, a key Team Anna member, said, "It was clear that majority of members wanted to continue the proceedings and they were even ready to sit through the night... he should have done what the majority wanted."

Terming the lokpal bill passed by the Lok Sabha as a "cruel joke", Team Anna attacked the Centre for "fixing the match" in the Rajya Sabha in collusion with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The team also disagreed with parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's statement that the government required time to study the 187 amendments, saying, "The same government could respond to 55 amendments in the Lok Sabha when they were likely to be defeated."

Another Team Anna member, Arvind Kejriwal, expressed surprise at Bansal's statement.

"Maybe they know better, but from what we understand, any amendment moved on a bill becomes the property of the House and has to be put to vote."