Lalu calls Anna's fast a 'flop' show

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday criticized the recently concluded hunger strike by social activist Anna Hazare for a strong Lokpal Bill and called it a 'flop' show.

"They (Team Anna) have made a business of it (Lokpal Bill agitation). the movement has flopped," Yadav told reporters.

Hazare who was on a three-day fast in Mumbai´s MMRDA Grounds had to call off his fast on Wednesday due to his poor health condition.

The agitation for a stronger anti-corruption bill had failed to attract large numbers of people in the ground.

Yadav said that people have ´rejected´ Hazare and his movement as they have realized their ´strategy´.

The Gandhian activist had also scrapped the ´jail bharo´ (fill the jail) campaign that he was supposed to start from Jan 1.

The Lokpal Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy, even though the fate of the long-awaited anti-graft law appeared largely uncertain over looming cloud of dissent among lawmakers.

On Tuesday, an eleven-hour marathon debate in the Lok Sabha concluded with the fruition of a four-decade-old effort to install a national ombudsman, however the constitutional amendment mooted to grant it the a statute label was defeated for a lack of majority.