Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday blamed the main Opposition BJP for the defeat of Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal, saying that it exposed its “real face”.
Mrs Gandhi said the BJP had actually committed itself to supporting Constitutional status to Lokpal in the Standing Committee deliberations.
“But yesterday (Tuesday), we saw their real face. The strength we wanted to give to Lokpal Bill, they did not want it and voted against it,” she told reporters here.
In Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gandhi charged the BJP with backtracking on its words during voting on the bill in the Lok Sabha.
“Congress wanted to give a strong Lokpal... We sat till midnight... We wanted to fight corruption... BJP leaders talked much about corruption outside Parliament but when it came to the passage of the bill, they voted against it,” he said at a public meeting in Sisaya at Dharaura constituency, according to PTI.
Mr Gandhi alleged that it was done on the directives of senior BJP leaders.
“Who gave (BJP MPs) the directive to do so? Senior leaders... All senior leaders... Advani, Sushma Swaraj were present in the House,” he said.
The Congress’ strategy is to expose the dual face of the saffron party on the issue of corruption and the Lokpal Bill. The BJP, leading the NDA, has neither been able to consolidate regional parties nor able to coordinate with the Left on the important issues. The BJD, the TDP, the AIADMK are comfortable with the Left.
Meanwhile, an angry Congress president on Wednesday sought the list of party MPs who remained absent during voting on the Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal amid moves to issue showcause notices to them.
Sources said Mr Rahul Gandhi, who had floated the idea of granting constitutional status to Lokpal, is also furious after the bill failed to get through in the Lok Sabha because of want of requisite numbers.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will seek their clarification in writing.
Sources said 13 Congress members in the Lok Sabha remained absent while the number of absent MPs of its allies is said to be over 10.