NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday a fast by a self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption campaigner was "totally misconceived," throwing down the gauntlet in a political standoff that has sparked some of India's most widespread protests in decades.
The 74-year-old Anna Hazare fasted in jail on Wednesday as thousands of his followers gathered outside in a whirlwind crisis that saw him arrested on Tuesday, before then refusing to leave jail after the government ordered his releases.
Hazare, who is demanding tougher laws against rampant corruption in India, insists he wants the right to return to the city park where he had originally planned to publicly fast before he leaves jail.
But Singh was uncompromising in a speech to parliament as opposition lawmakers often tried to shout him down.
"I acknowledge that Anna Hazare may be inspired by high ideals," a stern-looking Singh said. "However, the path that he has chosen to impose a draft of the bill on parliament is totally misconceived."
The crackdown on the activist and the arrest of more than a thousand of his followers met with outrage from the opposition, sparking parliament's adjournment on Tuesday and protests, from candle-light vigils to the burning of effigies of government figures, in cities across India.
The arrest and sudden about-turn appeared to confirm a widespread feeling the 78-year-old Singh was out of touch and that his government was clumsy and too riddled with corruption scandals to govern Asia's third-largest economy effectively.
"Corrupt, repressive and stupid," was the verdict of the Hindu newspaper. "Anna has the government fumbling," was the headline of the Mail Today.
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