An unprecedented stand-off in the Rajya Sabha between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition caused an indefinite deferment of the Lok Pal Bill on Thursday.
It was not just a fracas over what exactly a quota for minorities, women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes meant that held up the passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha beyond midnight. Amid shouting and chaos with the BJP charging that the government never had any intention of passing the Bill, the House was adjourned sine die, leaving the Bill in limbo.
The government said there were procedural difficulties in extending the discussion (and the House) beyond midnight.
Ruling party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi threw a spanner in the works by saying the 50 per cent reservation was not meant for any single disadvantaged group. But, he did not spell out the proportion in which each group would be represented on the board. That led to protests from all sections of the House.
Earlier, charging the UPA government with piloting a half-hearted legislation that enshrined a ‘phoney Lok Pal’, leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, who initiated the debate, revealed the mood of his party, the BJP, when he said the principal opposition party would not support a “weak” Bill.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader S C Mishra, Trinamool leader Sukhendu S Roy and T Siva of the DMK all criticised the Bill for encroaching upon the powers of state governments by setting up the Lokayukta as a parallel power centre to the Chief Minister. To varying degrees, UPA allies opposed or supported the Bill. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janashakti Party opposed it altogether. The BSP criticised the Bill, but also criticised the Congress and refused to commit to a position. The Trinamool Congress said it was opposing the Bill and the DMK said it would support it conditionally.
Speeches were disrupted in between when self-confessed Congress maverick Mani Shankar Aiyar clashed with BJP MP Ram Jethmalani and held up the house for nearly 45 minutes in an ideological wrangle.
