Winter session of Parliament on last day, triple talaq bill in limbo

Though the central government successfully passed the bill in Lok Sabha, it failed to receive consensus in the Upper House. BJP, well short of the majority in Rajya Sabha, failed to get the support of its allies and opposition parties for the passage of the bill.

The opposition parties like Congress, Trinamool, though not opposing the bill, demanded the central government to send it to the Select Committee for review. The Opposition claims the bill is not error proof.

Jaitley termed Congress' demand to refer the bill to the select committee as invalid.

Citing Rule 70 (sub-rule 2a), Congress MP Anand Sharma tried to justify the Opposition's demand to refer the bill to the select committee.

Countering Congress for not following the parliamentary procedures, Jaitley said the whole country "is watching that in the other House you supported the Bill and here you are trying to derail it."

"Now, we are taken by surprise that we all assemble here after 3 PM, a motion is suddenly submitted to us. For the first time breaking all parliamentary convention and procedures, an invalid motion is moved" he added.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her party supports the bill but it is full of errors which will put Muslim wives in trouble. Trinamool MP Derek O' Brien too sounded similar to her chief in the Rajya Sabha.

With Akali Dal's 3 votes, BJP could secure 60 votes in Rajya Sabha at the most. Congress' 57, AIADMK's 13 and Trinamool's 12 MPs in Rajya Sabha have already put the bill in the logjam.

BJP has a sense of worry as several of its state allies like JD(U), Shiv Sena have joined the Opposition in favour of sending the bill to the Select Committee.