Lokpal vote: 13 MPs missing,Cong to issue showcause notice

Even Rahul Gandhi was not to be seen in the House.

A day after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhis game-changing proposal to give Constitution status to Lokpal fell through due to the lack of requisite numbers in the Lok Sabha to pass the Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill,Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was bracing up to issue showcause notices to 13 Congress MPs whose absence from the House during voting had added to the UPA governments embarrassment. An upset Congress president Sonia Gandhi was said to have asked for the list of absentees on Wednesday.

Floor managers of the ruling party had more woes in store on Wednesday as there were many empty seats in the Treasury benches in the Lok Sabha when the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill and Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill,which sought to increase the retirement age of High Court judges,was to be considered for passage.

Even Rahul Gandhi was not to be seen in the House. Unlike Tuesday though,UPA floor managers did not have to test their skill as,in the midst of the debate over the Bills and demands from Opposition for voting,Law Minister Salman Khurshid got up to make a statement on minority reservation within OBC quota,which predictably evoked protests from the Opposition leading to the adjournment of the House for the day.

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While Bansal exuded confidence about pushing through the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bills in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday claiming to have 114 MPs to support it notwithstanding the likelihood of abstention by the SP,BSP and RJD,which would reduce the House strength to 216 the absence of four UPA MPs during voting on another Constitution Amendment Bill in the Upper House on Wednesday told a different story.

Out of 276 MPs of the UPA,excluding the Speaker,252 had voted with the government on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. Among the 24 absentees,which included 13 Congress MPs,three are in jail A Raja,Suresh Kalmadi and Madhu Koda.

The ministers who were absent included Farooq Abdullah,Dinsha Patel,who was busy in his grand-daughters marriage reception,Krishna Tirath,D Napoleon,Jagathrakshakan,and Mohan Jatua. Other absentees included KV Patel,VA Maadam,Jagdish Thakur,L Rajagopal,Rajamohan Reddy,Sanjay Bhoi,K Sudhakaran,Hamdullah Sayeed,Harsh Vardhan,Kabir Suman (TMC),Tapas Paul (TMC),Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress),CM Jatua (TMC),AKS Vijayan (DMK),and Suvendu Adhikari (TMC).

Bansal said he would certainly write letters to the absentee MPs seeking an explanation. He,however,added that any action will depend on what explanations they give. The reasons being given by some of these MPs or their close aides so far include foreign tours (Farooq Abdullah and D Napoleon) and delayed flight (Jagathrakshakan who reportedly reached Parliament but lobbies had been closed by then).

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UPA strategists refuted suggestions of poor floor management pointing out that their success was reflected by the abstention of the SP,BSP and RJD from voting. Absence of some MPs never really had any decisive impact as it was just not possible to pass a Constitutional (Amendment) Bill without the support of the BJP. Even if we were in full strength in the House,we would have fallen short of the two-thirds majority of the present and voting, said a senior minister.