BJP delegation meets President Patil over postponing voting on Lokpal Bill

New Delhi, Jan 5 (ANI): Days after a midnight drama took place inside the Rajya Sabha over passage of the Lokpal Bill, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by party leader L.K. Advani met President Pratibha Devisingh Patil here today to formally register a complaint against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government's failure to put the anti-graft legislation to vote in the House on December 29.

Party president Nitin Gadkari, leaders of the Opposition in both the houses of Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, former party president Rajnath Singh as well as M. Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, S.S. Ahluwalia and Ravi Shankar Prasad were amongst those who went to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Talking to reporters after meeting President Patil, Jaitley informed that the BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to the President and requested her to call a special Parliament session so that the Lokpal Bill could be put to vote.

"The President assured us that she would examine the memorandum," Jaitley added.

Alleging that the UPA government did not want a strong Lokpal, Jaitley said: "That is why it created "contrived disturbance" in the House to ensure the Lokpal Bill was not put to vote."

He further said that the government's plan to create disturbance in the Rajya Sabha was an open secret that was out in the media long before witnessed in the House.

The Lokpal Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha was taken up for a discussion and vote in Rajya Sabha. But after a marathon debate that stretched until midnight, the vote failed to take place.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die late night on December 29 amid uproar created by several MPs, without voting on the Bill.

The anti-graft legislation for which social activist Anna Hazare and his team have fomented a successful mass movement may now be taken up in the budget session of parliament, probably in March. (ANI)