Chavan congratulates Hazare on ending fast

Mumbai: Welcoming Anna Hazare’s decision to end his three-day fast ahead of schedule, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said the social activist should not have gone ahead with his protest when Parliament was specially extended to discuss Lokpal Bill. “He (Hazare) shouldn’t have gone ahead with the fast as the debate was going on in Parliament on the Lokpal Bill. The government was trying to meet his demand that the Bill be passed in the winter session of Parliament,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Mumbai.[caption id=“attachment_167786” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Image courtesy PIB”]  [/caption] The chief minister hailed as “a good decision” the 74-year-old Gandhian’s move to end his fast, which he started on Tuesday to protest a “weak” anti-corruption legislation brought by the government. Chavan congratulated Hazare, who is not keeping well, for calling off his fast and said if the veteran activist or his supporters wanted to get engaged in politics, they should contest elections. “I had requested him to withdraw his fast yesterday as there were concerns about his health. I had told him that all of his demands could not be accepted. Parliament is the supreme institution, which represents the people of the country. The law enacted by Parliament should be accepted,” Chavan said. PTI