New Delhi:
The Congress is fighting a wicked political hangover from last night's vote on the Lokpal Bill, and ensuring that it is protected against further humiliation in the Rajya Sabha. So before the Lokapl Bill reaches the Rajya Sabha, the government is wooing allies and opposition parties to ensure the Bill is not defeated in the upper house, where the government does not have a majority.
Last night, after a lengthy and tense debate, the government managed to push through the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha, winning sanction for a new national anti-corruption agency, known as the Lokpal. But a constitutional amendment Bill that would have granted the Lokpal constitutional status failed. The defeat put on public display the government's numerical weakness. It has also cost the Congress huge prestige points, since it was Rahul Gandhi who had, in August, suggested to Parliament that the Lokpal be made a constitutional body.
In a rare comment on camera, Sonia Gandhi hurled the blame at the BJP, saying the opposition party "had actually committed for constitutional status for the Lokpal Bill in the standing committee and yesterday they voted against it and denied constitutional status." She said, "Yesterday we have seen the real face of the BJP...we wanted to give a solid Lokpal Bill but they refused." The PM last night had described the events as "a bit of disappointment" but he added, "We have, however, fulfilled our objective of bringing these bills to Parliament as we had promised."
However, senior ministers admit there's no way to gloss over the fact that the weaknesses lay within. Despite a whip that made it obligatory for all MPs to be present in the House for the vote, at least ten Lok Sabha MPs were missing when the vote on the constitutional amendment took place. Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said "repeated reminders, SMS-es and phone calls" had been used to underscore the importance of the vote. A show-cause notice followed by some sort of disciplinary action will follow, said the minister to NDTV this morning.
But for now, the focus is on getting the math right before the Bill is tabled in the Rajya Sabha. "One thing is certain, it cannot be taken up unless Rajya Sabha decides to sit late like we did in 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," said Pawan Bansal, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
The government says it has sent the Bill for review to President Pratibha Patil, which is standard operating procedure for any legislation that will have financial implications. But senior Congress leaders say they're using today to win direct or indirect support. If, for example, Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP and Mayawati's BSP walk out of the Rajya Sabha, as they did before the vote in the Lok Sabha last night, the overall strength of the House for the vote will fall from 245 to 222 and the government will have a healthy majority of 114 votes.
There are also 14 independent and nominated members, whose position will have a huge impact on the government's strength.
The opposition is also looking to unite. The BJP and the Left are said to have a broad consensus on key provisions of the Bill - both want more autonomy for the CBI, for example, and are holding their own negotiations with regional parties that rule states, like Orissa's BJD. If the Rajya Sabha supports even a single amendment to the Lokpal Bill that was passed last night, a joint session of parliament will need to be called.
For the government, a possible understanding with the SP and the BSP on the Lokpal Bill would also help it mitigate the Anna Hazare effect in the Uttar Prdaesh elections to be held in February. Anna Hazare has vowed that if the anti-corruption law that the government brings does not have his approval as strong and efficient, he will campaign against the Congress in UP and four other election-bound states.
The Gandhian activist is into the second day of his three-day fast at the MMRDA ground in Mumbai. His health was worrying overnight - Anna has had a viral infection and had high fever last night. This morning, however, doctors said the fever had subsided. Team Anna members have repeatedly asked the 74-year-old to call off his hunger strike, so that he can eat and have medicines, but Anna has been adamant that he will go ahead with the fast.
In the Lok Sabha around midnight yesterday, it all boiled down to cold numbers. The Lokpal Bill was passed by voice vote - it needed a simple majority. The BSP, SP, Left parties, AIADMK, RJD and BJD had walked out in protest for various reasons bringing down the effective strength of the House. When the Constitutional Amendment Bill came up for voting, clause by clause, the BJD's 14 MPs had come back. This Bill needed both a two-third majority and a total 273 (the halfway mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha) ayes to get through. In a House where many MPs, including some Congressmen, were not present, the Bill got a two-third majority when division was called on some key clauses. But it did not have 273 nods.
There are whispers that even a tacit understanding reached yesterday between the ruling Congress and the main Opposition, the BJP, was not honoured - the government agreed to its demand that a provision on imposing the new Lokpal law on states be amended, but the BJP did not help push through the constitutional amendment Bill, sources said.