The Lokpal Bill drama has come to an abrupt end in the winter session of Parliament with the Rajya Sabha adjourned san die late in the evening on Thursday. The Lokpal Bill failed to get approval in Rajya Sabha though it was passed in the Lok Sabha. The opposition accused the government of running away from voting as it had no majority in the House.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet is scheduled for Friday. It is likely to recommend proroguing the Winter Session of Parliament to the President, sources said. The much-anticipated Rajya Sabha session ended at midnight on Thursday without a vote on the Lokpal Bill. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), a UPA constituent which had moved a slew of amendments and gave the government torrid time when it vowed to vote against the bill, called the adjournment "orchestrated chaos", almost echoing the Opposition view that it was "choreographed drama".

The BJP and the Left also wanted the CBI to be part of the Lokpal. And when the time for voting came, Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal suddenly came up with a request to the Chair for time to consider the 187 amendments moved by the MPs. Smelling a rat in the government strategy, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the government was running away from the House because it was in a "hopeless minority". "A government which did not have the numbers in the House has consciously first choreographed a debate so that it cannot not be concluded before 12 o' clock," he said.

Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said that after going through the amendments, the Cabinet would take a call on what to accept and what to reject and get back to Opposition parties. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 was "alive" and will remain on the Rajya Sabha register. "It will be cleared in the Budget session," he said.