Lokpal fiasco triggers all out war between govt, oppn

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A political war broke out between government and Opposition today over Rajya Sabha's failure to pass Lokpal Bill yesterday, with both sides accusing each other of carrying out 'well choreographed' chaos to scuttle it.

Under attack that it ran away from a vote because of lack of majority in the House, the government launched a media blitzkrieg in which BJP was the main target and painted as 'villain' of the midnight drama.

The government underlined that the bill was 'alive' and would be taken up in the Budget Session and get it passed after working with parties.

In all the charges and counter charges, the government sought not to annoy its ally Trinamool Congress, which had ganged up with the Opposition and declared that it would vote against the provisions relating to Lokayuktas.

Chidambaram went a step further to say that Trinamool's concerns could be addressed by refining the provisions.

In its barrage, the BJP and the Left accused the government of 'subterfuge and sabotage' through its allies and friendly parties, mainly the RJD.

Seeking to bring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in their line of fire for 'keeping silent' during the episode, Leaders of Opposition in both the Houses Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj said the government has lost the right to continue in office after the defeat in both the Houses and face fresh elections.

The government fielded four of its senior ministers - P. Chidambaram, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambika Soni - to launch a scathing attack on BJP.

"The BJP had no intention to pass the Bill. So they hit upon an ingenous devise to move 187 amendments, many of them contradictory and many of them cannot be reconciled in a few minutes," Chidambaram told a joint press conference.

Opposition attacks

The BJP, meanwhile, drew parallels with Indi's 'freedom at midnight'.

The party's Arun Jaitley said: "At the stroke of midnight hour when the world slept, India awoke to a fraud being played on its parliamentary democracy."

"If that was freedom at midnight, this is 'flee-dom' at midnight," he said.

The leader of opposition in parliament's upper house said the house sitting could have been extended after midnight if the government wanted.

"They could have continued the session after midnight. There have been incidents in the past when the session has continued after midnight," Jaitley said.

Asked about the role of Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Hamid Ansari, he said: "I have a strong view on it but I would keep it to myself."

He added that even getting the president's permission for extending the house was not difficult, had the government wanted it.

Draupadi?

The BJP also rejected the government's allegation of the opposition being responsible for the Lokpal bill not being passed.

"It was their allies who changed their stand, BJP had not supported the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha either. Why are they blaming us for their failure?" Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.

Comparing Thursday night's events with the disrobing of mythological character Draupadi from the epic Mahabharata, she attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for watching it the chaos mutely.

"Leaders of both houses were present, and they not just witnessed quietly but were part of the conspiracy," she alleged.

Sushma Swaraj said her party's core committee will meet later Friday to decide the course of action on the events.

Replying to the government's allegation that the opposition could have passed the Lokpal bill as passed by the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said amendments were the opposition's right.

"There was no disturbance and counter disturbance, there was only orchestrated disturbance," he added.