Constitution Amendment Bill defeated, absent Cong MPs to blame

At least 25 MPs of the Congress and its allies in the United Progressive Alliance were absent during voting on the Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal in the Lok Sabha which was defeated for lack of numbers.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal admitted that at least 25 of Congress MPs and those of the allies were not present during the voting.

"We knew our numbers. But we wanted to show that we really wanted to have a strong Lokpal. And for that, we wanted to give it a Constitutional status. But the Bharatiya Janata Party and other opposition parties did not want that to happen," he said.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy told reporters in the Parliament House, "We don't know how many (MPs) were there. It is for the parliamentary affairs minister and our leader to decide."