New Delhi, March 11:Shashi Tharoor's efforts to introduce a private member's bill to decriminalise homosexual acts ended in failure today for the second time in three months, defeated again by virtually empty Congress benches and jeering BJP members.

As on December 18, the bill was voted out by the Lok Sabha at the introduction stage itself but with an even more lopsided margin: 58-14, compared with the earlier 71-24.

"So bigotry & homophobia on the BJP side met indifference & prejudice on the Opposition's.... Bitter disappointment," Tharoor tweeted after the vote denied the bill even a discussion in the House.

After the December blow, the Congress MP had launched an online campaign to build public opinion and networked with members from both sides. Sources said several senior Congress members had promised him support.

"Several MPs who'd promised to vote in favour absent," Tharoor tweeted today.

Later, he told The Telegraph: "The issue was not important enough to hold up their Friday afternoon plans. Most of them were ready to leave for the airport for their constituencies anyway."

When Tharoor tried to introduce the bill, BJP members sought a division that Speaker Sumitra Mahajan granted. Of the 73 members present, one abstained.

Private members' bills are rarely voted out at the introduction stage. They are usually withdrawn after a debate and a reply by the government. Few such bills have ever been passed.

Equal rights activist Harish Iyer, who watched the proceedings on TV, said he was astounded to see even some senior MPs giggling as Tharoor tried to introduce his bill. He slammed the Congress "absenteeism".

"There was a lot of jeering. These are our elected representatives. These people teasing Tharoor are so intolerant that they cannot even tolerate the thought of discussing homosexuality," Iyer said.

His mother Padma Iyer, who had last June placed a matrimonial ad for a "suitable boy" for her son, expressed disappointment although she had had "very little hope" of the bill's introduction.

"This kind of behaviour is unacceptable. People were quiet when the previous bills were being presented. When Shashi presented his bill, there was suddenly a lot of giggling and laughter," she said.

Three months ago, Tharoor had faced catcalls in the House and had his sexual orientation questioned.

The Supreme Court had in December 2013 overturned a Delhi High Court ruling that had set aside Section 377 of the penal code, which prescribes jail for sex "against the order of nature", calling such acts "unnatural offences".

The apex court, however, left it to Parliament to delete the section if it wanted. Sonia Gandhi expressed disappointment at the apex court ruling but her party, which was in power, did not initiate any legislative action to repeal the section.

Tharoor's draft bill had listed "consent" as a key component, proposed to replace "unnatural offence" with "other sexual offences", and omitted the phrase "against the order of nature".

"The bill proposes to restrict applicability of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to non-consensual sexual acts between persons or sexual acts with persons under the age of eighteen years," the bill said.

"My bill is not about sex, it is about equality and dignity and non-discrimination," Tharoor told this newspaper.

"This is a House where all the issues governing the future of our nation, the laws and policies under which this country must run, are to be discussed. Yes, after discussion, the House is free to decide in favour or against. But to vote against discussion is, to my mind, a low in the proud annals of Indian parliamentary democracy."