It now seems ready to remove the 'Lokayukta' clause from the Bill, but after the scenes that played out in Parliament on Thursday night, the question many are raising - will the Lokpal Bill ever become a reality?
After the debacle in the Rajya Sabha, a cornered govt got into a huddle to defend what many see as indefensible.
"At least the Bill has not been defeated in the Rajya Sabha. So the Bill is still safe, it can be taken up later," said Home Minister P Chidambaram.
As pictures of the midnight drama in the Rajya Sabha are played out, the credibility of the Government is under scanner.
"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world was sleeping, the biggest ever Parliamentary fraud in India was being committed," said the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley.
The big question is - what happens to the Bill? even though the Government says it wants to bring it in the Budget Session, possibilities are that it can be considered as completed business and no fresh debate needed. But the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha to decide whether more debate can be allowed or the Bill to directly put to vote.
Meanwhile, the Government may use the time to reach out to other political parties and especially Mamata Banerjee.
The bigger issue is that almost all parties are opposed to the Lokpal Bill, and having tasted blood on Thursday, their open defiance may continue.
In the end, the future of the Lokpal Bill certainly looks extremely bleak. The Government has already made it clear that the Bill is at their mercy. Will the Government really want the Bill to be moved along with some more amendments, which could actually heard the case of any political party?
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