Opp stalls Parliament for third day

Even as the Government attempted to reach out to the Opposition to break the logjam following third consecutive day of washout of the Parliament, the Congress on Thursday ruled out any talks with the ruling dispensation. The party reiterated that it will continue its protest till its demand for resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and BJP chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is met. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi too toed the party’s line and said “no resignation, no discussion” and thereafter, also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “silence” on these issues.  

“The solution to the deadlock in Parliament cannot be found in a meeting, but in action against a Union Minister and two Chief Ministers,” leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said at the AICC briefing when he was asked as to why he as the leader of Opposition did not attend an all-party meeting convened by the leader of the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley. There were reports that Jaitley had convened a meeting of all party leaders to break the logjam. 

Azad said he has regard for Jaitley and he would attend any meeting convened by him the day the deadlock is resolved by taking action against Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

Dismissing suggestions about lack of unity among the Opposition parties on the issue, Azad insisted as far as Rajya Sabha is concerned, leaders of the SP, CPI, CPI-M, BSP and JD-U have all demanded resignations of those involved in the lalit Modi issue and Vyapam scam.Apparently referring to the statement of senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar, Azad said there was support for the opposition’s demand also from “within” BJP.

With BJP raking up the Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra land deal issue in the Parliament, Azad accused the Government of pursuing “politics of revenge” against the opposition.Azad charged the BJP with raising the issue of alleged corruption by governments in Congress-ruled states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in a tit-for-tat action against his party and seeking to divert the attention of the people from the lalit Modi issue and Vyapam scam.

Azad’s remarks came after BJP hit back at Congress in the lok Sabha by raking up certain comments of Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and demanded action against him for “demeaning” Members of Parliament. Azad maintained that the Opposition does not have personal issues but the fight is for the ideology and principles in functioning of the governance. “BJP should immediately act against the accused ministers and allow the proceedings of the Parliament,” he said.  

Reminiscing about accusations leveled against former Prime Minister later Indira Gandhi by the Janata Party government, Azad said that there should be no space for politics of revenge. “BJP can go to any level in digging up older issues. When the Janata Party Government came, then besides a Shah Commission, the vindictive Government of the day also set up a commission against Indira Gandhi for having eaten chicken and some eggs during her visit in north eastern states as Prime Minister for which she did not had paid the bills. This shows the mentality of the people following such an ideology,” Azad said.