Parliament deadlock: BJP calls Congress ‘confused’, all-party meet tomorrow
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday criticised the Congress for its ‘confused’ stand in the Parliament.”The Congress today seems to want every debate outside rather than in the Parliament.
Whether it’s an issue as important and as critical as that which concerns national security or whether it is talking about a Bill like the GST,” Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a media briefing at the BJP headquarters here.
“It is just the confused Congress , I say confused because you may have observed that in the way they take stand or they express their position in the Parliament, their position has kept changing,” she added.
With Congress insisting that the resignation of Union minister Sushma Swaraj be part of tomorrow’s all-party meet to end logjam in Parliament, the BJP today hit back saying the opposition party has pushed itself “against the wall” by its demand and the honourable exit for it would be have a debate in the House on the Lalit Modi issue.
The ruling party also sought to drive a wedge in the opposition unity by claiming that while Congress is disrupting Parliamentary proceedings, other opposition parties are looking forward to a debate on important issues on the floor of the House.
Niramala Sitharaman further claimed that Congress has put itself in an “untenable position” and has “pushed itself against the wall” by demanding resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje over Lalit Modi controversy, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan over Vyapam scam.
She said the “honourable exit” for the Congress would be to have a debate on the issue in Parliament.Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also slammed Congress and other rival parties over repeated disruptions in Parliament and said the Centre is ready to accommodate view of the Opposition if their request is fair.
Appealing to the Opposition not to indulge in a blame-game, Naidu expressed hope that the issues would be resolved at an all-party meeting called tomorrow.”I appeal to Congress please do not hurt the interest of the country. Let us not indulge in a blame game. Come to Parliament, let us discuss it.
“Tomorrow I have called for an all-party meeting and I hope the meeting will be fruitful and we will be able to resolve the issues and then move forward,” he said.
However, backing party colleagues Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje who are under fire over the Lalit Modi issue, he said, “My (BJP) Minister Sushma Swaraj is one of the most dynamic, and also effective minister and is doing great job.
She has not done anything wrong… Nothing illegal and nothing immoral has been done by either Swaraj or even Vasundhara Raje, who was not even Rajasthan Chief Minister at that time.”Both the Houses of Parliament have not been able to function with the opposition parties reiterating their demand for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s resignation over her alleged help to former IPL chief Lalit Modi.
The opposition has also been targeting the government over the Vyapam scam.
