Congress gets its Lokpal without Rahul Gandhi’s status

It wasn’t a fairytale ending for the government after all. The near perfect finish of the Lokpal debate, with the bill to set up the ombudsman being passed by voice vote, was ruined when the Congress-led UPA failed to secure constitutional status for the body. It was a loss of face for the party leadership and a gross miscalculation by its floor managers, prompting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to describe it as a “sad day for democracy”.

Giving the Lokpal constitutional status was Rahul Gandhi’s idea, which was shot down by the BJP and other opposition parties.

There was a brief period of confusion after it became official that the move had failed. Gandhi was on his feet in disbelief. The joy of getting the Lokpal Bill passed was drowned in the palpable tension in the house. Now the Lokpal will be just a statutory authority.

The UPA’s hope that ‘outside allies’ as well as sections of the opposition would help it to lend extra strength to the Lokpal was belied. On the other hand, the BJP’s contention that the government had erred on several counts, especially with regard to provisions that had implications for the country’s federal structure, found support.

During the debate it was evident that even allies like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK did not favour giving the Lokpal overriding powers over the Lokayuktas in the states.

"The double-faced politics of the BJP and NDA was clear," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said later. "[They were] not serious to fight corruption. They do not want a strong Lokpal. The opposition is a stumbling block in our fight against corruption and I think they will have to pay for it in elections."

Earlier, after a marathon debate lasting over 10 hours, the Lok Sabha had its Lokpal moment. A show of strength was avoided as most of the amendments were turned down by voice vote.

Before the amendments were put through the long voting process, Mukherjee put up a spirited defence of the bill. "This may not be the perfect bill, but it is a good bill," he said, arguing that the country could not wait for the perfect bill.

The bill was passed with a simple majority in spite of a walkout by the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party. To facilitate passage of the bill, Mukherjee conveyed the government's intention to move amendments that would address the concerns of the opposition. Responding to criticism that the bill would hurt the country's federal structure, he assured the house that each state would have to give its consent for the provisions to be notified in its area. Mukherjee said the armed forces would also not be within the ambit of the Lokpal.

The government also got the Protection of Whistleblowers Bill passed in the Lok Sabha. On Wednesday, the bills go to the Rajya Sabha.