Sonia asks Congress MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: A day after the Central Government faced an embarrassment in Lok Sabha as it could not muster the requisite two-third majority for passing the bill that provides Constitutional status to Lokpal, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday asked her party MPs to be present in the Rajya Sabha during voting and debate on the Lokpal Bill.

Earlier in the day, criticising the main opposition for not voting in favour of making Lokpal a Constitutional body, Gandhi said that the real face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to the fore.

"I am very happy that Lokpal Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and as far as the Constitutional status is concerned, the BJP had actually committed to the Constitutional status in the standing committee but yesterday, we saw the real face of BJP. The strength we wanted to give to the Lokpal Bill, they refused to that and voted against it," Gandhi told the media here.

The Lok Sabha passed the much-anticipated Lokpal Bill on Tuesday to create an anti-corruption body. However, it failed to give it a Constitutional status.

The Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill was defeated by a determined Opposition, helped by the absence of parties supporting the government from outside like SP, BSP and RJD.

A Constitution Amendment Bill to be passed should have more than 50 per cent of the members of the House present and of them, two-third support is mandatory.