New Delhi: In a cynical and blatant display of political manipulation, the UPA government ensured that there was no voting on the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha. As predicted, members of the Rashtriya Janata Party and Samwajwadi Party created utter chaos in the House during the reply of the government to the debate, which was being made by Minister of State (PMO) V Narayanswamy.
At the count of midnight, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die – since the session was slated to end on December 29 and hence could not continue to December 30 - bringing the extended Winter Session of Parliament to a close without the future of the Lokpal Bill being settled. The Rajya Sabha will probably take up the discussion and voting at some time during the Budget Session, which is slated for February 2012.
Before the adjournment, the government argued against rushing through a discussion on the amendments proposed by the Opposition and other parties. Speaking at ten minutes to midnight, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal contented that it would be impossible to complete this process in the short time available.
That the mayhem created by the RJD and SP MPs – forcing an adjournment of 15 minutes - appeared to be part of a deliberate strategy to scuttle the process made it much worse for the government, which was already under fire for poor floor management through the entire process of voting in both Houses. CNN-IBN reported at 10:50 PM that the RJD's Rajniti Prasad would play a 'very active role' in the process of disruption.
That was precisely what happened, exposing the entire proceeding as a cynical mockery of process. Through the evening, it had become increasingly clear that the government would be unable to muster the numbers to ensure passage for the version of the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha. Although it is believed to have managed to win over the Trinamool Congress by agreeing to drop the entire portion of the Bill relating to state Lokayuktas, even these additional six votes would not have brought it a majority.
The government had been counting on favourable voting or abstention from the SP and the RJD to bridge the gap between its own strength of 97 MPs (including the TMC), augmented by 17 possible votes from nominated and Indpendent MPs, and the Opposition's 102. But with the SP and RJD announcing their intention to vote against the Bill, even the uncommitted stance of the BSP with its 18 MPs, did not offer any certainty.
As a result, the government spent much of the latter part of the evening strategising an exit policy. The issue of a midnight deadline for proceedings also came up at this stage, the argument being that the session had to end by 12 midnight. In that case, there would not have been enough time for voting. The objective for the government at this stage appeared to be to buy time and regroup to fight the battle on another day.
Although several MPs demanded that the session be continued through the night, their views were not entertained. The adjournment came under fire not just from the Opposition – which referred to the whole show (some would call it a charade) as the murder of democracy, though it had itself contributed in some measure to prolonging the process – but also from its own allies, such as the Trinamool Congress.
'The government is running away because it does not have the numbers,' alleged the BJP's Arun Jaitley, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. 'It has choreographed the debate in a manner that ensures it cannot be concluded today,' he added. 'We can pass the same bill as the Lok Sabha in two minutes,' countered Congress members.
The government had the last laugh, but it was a Pyrrhic victory at best.
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