Battle over Lokpal on in RS, government scrambling for numbers

With no majority on its own in the Rajya Sabha, the government on Wednesday scrambled for numbers to get the Lokpal Bill passed to avoid the embarrassment it faced in the Lok Sabha over the defeat of Constitution Amendment Bill.

As the Bill is likely to be tabled in the Upper House with clearance given by President Pratibha Patil from Hyderabad in the morning, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley in a bid to seek the Bharatiya Janata Party's support for the measure.

The Lokpal Bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla told reporters.

In a House of 243, the ruling United Progressive Alliance has the clear support of 101 members and needs at least another 21 members to ensure a simple majority for the bill.

Even though the concerns of allies and opponents on the original bill impinging on the states' rights in relation to setting up of Lokayuktas were taken into consideration, the Congress still has apprehensions over what opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party, Left parties, the Biju Janata Dal and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will do in the Upper House.

The role of 27 members of Parliament belonging to the BSP, SP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which support the government from outside, becomes crucial because they walked out of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday before the voting.

Their absence in the House led to the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill.

In case they remain absent from the Rajya Sabha too, the total numbers and the majority required would also come down but they are the numbers the government is banking upon. The numbers required for a simple majority in such a case may come down to 108.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi blamed the BJP for the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal, saying the action exposed its "real face".

Gandhi said the BJP had actually committed itself to supporting the Constitutional status to the Lokpal in the Standing Committee deliberations.

"But on Tuesday, we saw their real face. The strength we wanted to give to the Lokpal Bill, they did not want it and voted against it," she told reporters.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal expressed the hope that it will be able to introduce the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday afternoon.

He said, "One thing is certain, it cannot be taken up unless the Rajya Sabha decides to sit late like we did in the Lok Sabha. Then only perhaps it could be passed today. Otherwise it will be passed tomorrow, but it will be taken up for consideration today."

Earlier, Union Minister V Narayanasamy had said the Lokpal Bill was unlikely to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha today.