New Delhi, India (CNN) -- The Indian parliament began a three-day session on Tuesday to debate and vote on the creation of a Lokpal, or citizen ombudsman, to address the problem of chronic corruption in the country.
At the same time as lawmakers in New Delhi began their political maneuvering, Anna Hazare, the campaigner who used a hunger strike to bring the corruption issue to the fore earlier this year, was preparing to embark upon a new fast in Mumbai to express dissatisfaction with the proposed legislation.
Hazare appeared on stage in front of a large crowd Tuesday as supporters made speeches.
Hazare had ended his original hunger strike, which lasted 12 days, at the end of August -- a day after parliament resolved to accept his demands to establish a powerful Lokpal.
At the time, the activist described the lawmakers' decision as a "people's victory."
But Hazare has since expressed doubts about the substance of the legislation that parliament will eventually pass. He set out his concerns in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made available on the website of his movement, India Against Corruption.
In the letter, dated December 17, Hazare says he is worried the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's main investigative police agency, will not come under the control of the new Lokpal.
"Without an investigative agency, what is the purpose of Lokpal?" Hazare writes. "Its better we don't have such a Lokpal."
The governing Congress party has a tough job on its hands to get the Lokpal bill approved by both houses of parliament, where it faces objections from the opposition group, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as possible dissent from members of the government's alliance.
A series of high-profile alleged scandals that have rocked Singh's administration and investor confidence in Asia's third largest economy.
In April, a former government minister in India was among a dozen defendants charged in a multi-billion-dollar telecom scandal. Andimuthu Raja, a former telecommunication minister, is accused of being involved in a scheme involving the underselling of cell phone licenses at the height of India's lucrative telecom boom.
Police have questioned several high-profile executives in connection with the suspected below-price sale of radiowaves in 2008. Politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate officials linked to the probe have denied any wrongdoing.
Investigators are also probing complaints of financial malfeasance in the Commonwealth Games that India hosted in October last year.
Several politicians, military officials, and bureaucrats have also been the subjects of a separate inquiry for allegedly taking apartments meant for war widows.
At the same time as lawmakers in New Delhi began their political maneuvering, Anna Hazare, the campaigner who used a hunger strike to bring the corruption issue to the fore earlier this year, was preparing to embark upon a new fast in Mumbai to express dissatisfaction with the proposed legislation.
Hazare appeared on stage in front of a large crowd Tuesday as supporters made speeches.
Hazare had ended his original hunger strike, which lasted 12 days, at the end of August -- a day after parliament resolved to accept his demands to establish a powerful Lokpal.
At the time, the activist described the lawmakers' decision as a "people's victory."
But Hazare has since expressed doubts about the substance of the legislation that parliament will eventually pass. He set out his concerns in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made available on the website of his movement, India Against Corruption.
In the letter, dated December 17, Hazare says he is worried the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's main investigative police agency, will not come under the control of the new Lokpal.
"Without an investigative agency, what is the purpose of Lokpal?" Hazare writes. "Its better we don't have such a Lokpal."
The governing Congress party has a tough job on its hands to get the Lokpal bill approved by both houses of parliament, where it faces objections from the opposition group, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as possible dissent from members of the government's alliance.
A series of high-profile alleged scandals that have rocked Singh's administration and investor confidence in Asia's third largest economy.
In April, a former government minister in India was among a dozen defendants charged in a multi-billion-dollar telecom scandal. Andimuthu Raja, a former telecommunication minister, is accused of being involved in a scheme involving the underselling of cell phone licenses at the height of India's lucrative telecom boom.
Police have questioned several high-profile executives in connection with the suspected below-price sale of radiowaves in 2008. Politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate officials linked to the probe have denied any wrongdoing.
Investigators are also probing complaints of financial malfeasance in the Commonwealth Games that India hosted in October last year.
Several politicians, military officials, and bureaucrats have also been the subjects of a separate inquiry for allegedly taking apartments meant for war widows.
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