Faced With A Loss In RS, Govt Avoids Vote; TMC, Opp Cry Foul
New Delhi: Faced with a certain defeat in the Rajya Sabha over the Lokpal Bill, the government on Thursday ducked the vote, leaving the fate of the landmark anti-corruption legislation in limbo.
Defeat had stared the government in its face, after efforts to persuade UPA ally Trinamool to give up its opposition to the Lokayukta clause and cajole BSP and SP into walking out of the House had failed.
At least 122 members had looked set to oppose the bill while the government’s tally stopped at 109 in a House of 243. More ominously for the government, there was a possibility of many amendments, including the one moved by TMC, passing muster and the House approving a package drastically different from the official bill cleared by LS.
RS chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the House without fixing its next sitting just past midnight after the government claimed that it would not be able to sort out and respond to a record 187 amendments. “If we want to be true to the cause, we need more time to go through the amendments,” said parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal. He then responded to opposition taunts by saying the government was ready to pass the LS version of the bill.
Ansari's ruling was vehemently protested by the opposition which accused the government of running away as it lacked amajority, and said that it was ready to sit through the night. Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley also said that the government had choreographed chaos to dodge a vote.
“It is ironical that I am the leader of opposition but I am speaking for the majority of the House. A government which was in a hopeless minority had choreographed proceedings so that a vote could not be taken. A government which runs away from facing the House has no business to be in office for a minute,” said Jaitley.
TWISTS & TURNS THROUGH A DRAMATIC DAY
10am | Trinamool Congress announces there is no change in its plan to press an amendment to delete the Lokayukta chapter from the Lokpal bill
10.30 | BJP leaders review strategy, step up efforts to ensure full strength, including the independents it supports
11.00 | Samajwadi Party and BSP affirm they will not walk out of the Rajya Sabha as they did in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday
1pm | Anti-Lokpal bill leaders like RJD chief Lalu Prasad lobby for its defeat among opposition MPs
2.00 | Informal back-channel discussions between SP, BSP, Left, BJP, AIADMK and BJD leaders in Parliament lobbies and party offices intensify
2.30 | BSP leader Satish Mishra hits out at Congress, says move to legislate on Lokayuktas is bad in law
4.00 | Trinamool MP Sukhendu Roy formally ends suspense, says his party will oppose Lokayukta clause. AIADMK and Akali Dal moved similar amendments
4.45 | More shocks for govt. SP leader Ramgopal Yadav delivers tough speech, asks Centre to delete Lokayukta clauses and seeks changes in appointment procedure of Lokpal
5.00 | PM tries to talk to Mamata Banerjee
5.30 | Govt makes hectic efforts to bring Trinamool around, offers changes in Lokayukta clauses but these are rejected. Congress Core Group meets
6.00 | Sibal meets Pranab, who in turn talks to BSP’s Satish Mishra and RJD chief Lalu. BSP to stay in the House till the end
11.00 | RJD MP Rajniti Prasad tears copy of bill while debate is on
11.45 | Uproar as govt says it cannot allow more debate for voting to happen
Midnight | RS adjourned without vote MAJOR OPPOSITION AMENDMENTS
Delete ‘Lokayukta’ from the Lokpal and Lokayukta bill. Also that clauses 63 to 97 dealing with the formation of the state-level Lokpal be deleted
Investigation wing of CBI should be under Lokpal as prosecution cannot be separate. Govt’s bill says only prosecution should be under Lokpal
All affairs of CBI relating to cases under Prevention of Corruption Act be supervised by Lokpal
Selection procedure for the Lokpal be altered to reduce clout of govt-related nominees
A model act be proposed for the Lokayukta as guidelines that can be adopted by states
Refer the bill to a select committee for fresh consideration of sticky issues
CONTENTIOUS ARTICLES
The terms ‘Article 252’ and ‘253’ were frequently bandied about in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debates. Here’s what they mean 252says if at least two states want a law by Parliament on a subject that does not fall in state purview, they can pass resolutions to this effect. This law will apply to them and any other state that adopts it. Oppn says this is a voluntary mechanism 253 gives Parliament the right to enact laws for the whole or any part of India to enforce international treaties or covenants. Cong says implementing the UN convention on corruption can cover Lokayuktas
ROAD AHEAD
Bill will be reintroduced afresh in RS, whenever government wishes to do so
Bill will be debated from scratch in Rajya Sabha before being put to vote
If Upper House changes the bill from the version passed by the Lok Sabha, it will go back to LS for fresh passage Congress efforts to woo Mamata Banerjee fail
Proceedings in the House dragged on till midnight as members belonging to parties supporting the government, directly or indirectly, rambled on. Rajneeti Prasad of Lalu Prasad’s RJD even tore up the bill with hardly a protest from treasury benches. Opposition leaders saw it as a time-wasting tactic.
After parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said that the government did not want to pass a “hodgepodge” legislation and needed time to sift through amendments, Ansari rose to address the House “An unprecedented situation has arisen. There seems to be desire to outshout each other. It is a total impasse. Proceedings cannot be conducted in this noise. There is no option…. most reluctantly…. (to adjourn the House sine die).
After that he called for the national song, Vande Matram, to be played and thereafter formally announced that the House was adjourned sine die.
Earlier, the opposition had sought his intervention as “custodian of the House” to protect their rights and get the government to face a vote.
Although Bansal claimed that the government is keen to pass the bill, there is no clarity when this can be done. The bill will remain pending in Rajya Sabha which cannot be summoned without President’s approval. Rules lay down that the first session of a year has to start with a joint address by President. Bansal made it clear that it was the government’s prerogative to decide when to hold the next session; in this case whether to hold one ahead of the Budget Session due to start end February.
Uncertainty will persist as numbers are not going to improve for the government as the bill’s opponents will find it difficult to alter their position without significant concessions from the ruling coalition. In fact, the term of three nominated members who would have voted for government ended on Thursday, worsening what was a difficult situation to start with.
The voting was preceded by lastditch effort to persuade Trinamool, SP and BSP to bail out the government. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee held desperate parleys with the three parties, with parliamentary affairs minister Bansal and law minister Salman Khurshid chipping in with the effort to bring them around.
With West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee monitoring the show from Kolkata, Trinamool Congress MPs declared they would insist on putting their amendment seeking to scrap the Lokayukta chapter from the bill to vote as it ran counter to the right of the states to frame their statelevel anti-graft ombudsman. Their defiance also spurred BSP and SP to resist government’s pressure.
The much-awaited vote looked uncertain as the numbers continued to be elusive for the government.Even the debate crossed 11 hours in the evening, various speakers including independents and one-MP parties were allowed inordinately long minutes. Minister for personnel V Narayanasamy began his reply at only 11 pm. To some it looked like a time-wasting tactic. The six Trinamool Congress MPs only held the key to the delicate balance of numbers in the House where the UPA on its own does not command amajority. The situation tilted further against the government with BSP indicating that it might stay on the House. Congress managers realized that if BSP’s 18 MPs actually supported the Trinamool amendment along with BJP, Left and other regional players, the game would be over.
Aware that the government was faced with dire options, the Congress core group met at 4.30 to take stock. Facing the vote, even at the risk of the Trinamool amendment – with the support of the Opposition – being passed was an option, with some suggesting that government should go down fighting and capitalize on the defeat like Indira Gandhi did on abolition of privy purses and Rajiv Gandhi on the constitutional amendment for Panchayati Raj. The option of sending the bill to a select committee was considered but was given up immediately because of the realization that opponents of the bill would have the majority in the panel.
Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee resisted all attempts to bring her around as Congress offered a couple of changes in the lokayukta formulations but she remained unconvinced. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met Trinamool leaders and other central ministers like Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid did their best to persuade the party to drop its objections to no avail.
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