Congress MP's were absent ( Drama by Congress )

The BJP today hit back at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul for blaming opposition for the fall of Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, saying it was not their responsibility to fulfill "his dream" to give constitutional status to Lokpal.

Indicating that it will move amendments and oppose the Lokpal Bill when it comes to the Rajya Sabha tomorrow, BJP said Congress should first get its own house in order and get its allies on board before taking on the Opposition.

At a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said UPA government's claim of commanding a majority in the House was exposed yesterday when the Bill on giving constitutional status to the Lokpal was put to vote.

Not only did the government fail to get the required two-thirds majority but the division of votes showed it was well below the half way mark.



"But Congress has been trying to lay all the blame for failure to pass the constitutional status bill on the BJP. Now even Sonia Gandhi is singing their tune. We have said our commitment is to a strong Lokpal but we cannot support what is patently unconstitutional," Swaraj said.

She insisted that even when the Opposition pointed out that passing the provision for appointment of Lokayuktas in states under Article 253 violated the federal principal and it should be passed under Article 252, the government did not agree. This forced the BJP to oppose it.

On giving Constitutional status to the Lokpal, Swaraj said, "If this was their general secretary Rahul Gandhi's dream, is fulfilling it the responsibility of the BJP? Should Congress not have got the numbers? It could not even muster a simple majority of 273.