New Delhi:
Both Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have blamed the BJP for the Lokpal fiasco that unfolded in the Lok Sabha last night. The government managed to push through a bill that creates the national anti-corruption agency, but a bill to grant constitutional status to the Lokpal was defeated. The government just didn't have the numbers needed. The sting is doubled by the fact that it was Rahul Gandhi who said in August that the Lokpal should be a constitutional body. He had described this idea as "a game-changer." Don't blame us, said the BJP's Sushma Swaraj. "This was Rahul Gandhi's dream" she said in Delhi today. "So isn't it your responsibility to make his dream come true?"
The Congress is visibly smarting from its failure. "We have seen the true face of the BJP," said Sonia Gandhi in a rare comment on camera this morning. The Congress President said that the BJP had earlier committed its support for the constitutional amendment, but the party "ultimately betrayed the government."
In Uttar Pradesh, where Mr Gandhi is campaigning for the elections that will be held in February, said, "We asked for an independent, strong constitutional body like the Election Commission. There was a lot of rhetoric by the BJP for a strong Lokpal. But they did not press the button. Sushma Swaraj and LK Advani asked MPs not to vote for it."
Senior Congress leaders suggest that the BJP was expected to support the constitutional amendment bill in return for the government amending a part of the Lokpal Bill that the BJP was unhappy with. The bill asked for all states to implement the Lokpal model. The BJP - and the government's biggest allies like Mamata Banerjee's TMC and the DMK - opposed this, describing it as an attack on the principles of federalism outlined in the constitution. So the government amended the language so that states have the right to decide what sort of anti-corruption agency or Lokayukta they want to create.
The BJP says that the defeat of the constitutional amendment bill obliges the government to resign. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has no moral right to continue in office, the government should resign on moral grounds," said the BJP's Yashwant Sinha.
The Lokpal Bill that was cleared by the Lok Sabha last night will now have to be passed by the Rajya Sabha where the government is in a minority. Key ally Mamata Banerjee has asked her party leaders to examine the language of the Lokpal Bill to ensure that the autonomy of states is protected and guaranteed. If she is not satisfied, she may ask for more amendments. There are other reports that the BJP is also trying to win the support of regional parties like the BJD from Orissa to fight the government in the Rajya Sabha. The unifying cause - if they agree on one - would be the alleged violation of the right of states to decide on their own legislation.