Headlines
Adjournments hit monsoon session's first day as Congress, BJP clash
New Delhi, July 21
The monsoon session of
parliament started on a stormy note on Tuesday, with the Congress and
other opposition parties stalling proceedings, demanding the resignation
of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two chief ministers over
the Lalit Modi controversy and the Vyapam scam.
The Bharaitya
Janata Party hit back, accusing the Congress of running away from debate
on these issues, and threatened to rake up controversies surrounding
Congress chief ministers.
The Rajya Sabha saw many adjournments
on the Lalit Modi issue while the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day
after paying respects to sitting member Dileep Singh Bhuria and former
members who passed away in the inter-session period.
Earlier in the morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped that the session will be fruitful and witness many good decisions.
As
the Rajya Sabha met a few minutes later, the Congress sought to build
pressure for the resignation of Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje for their help to former IPL chief Lalit Modi
and of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the
Vyapam (Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal) scam.
Mahila Congress workers held a protest near parliament to press for resignations of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
The
Rajya Sabha saw three adjournments before lunch. The Congress and the
Samajwadi Party had given notice for suspending the business of the
house to take up the debate on the Lalit Modi issue.
"The
government promised transparency in its functioning. This promise has
been broken. There are 14 FIRs by the Enforcement Directorate against
him (Lalit Modi). Governments change, laws don't change," Congress
member Anand Sharma said.
The Congress leader alleged that travel
documents granted to Lalit Modi by Britain to go to Portugal to attend
to his cancer-stricken wife were "used by him for tourism".
"Within
two and a half months of coming to power, this (Modi) government asked
the UK to give travel documents to Lalit Modi," Sharma said.
In response, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asked the Opposition to begin a debate on the issue right away.
"Start the discussion, Sushma Swaraj will reply," Jaitley said.
However,
the Opposition members created a ruckus over their demand, forcing
adjournment of the upper house till noon and then till 12.30 p.m. and 2
p.m.
When the house met post-lunch, Rajya Sabha Deputy
Chairperson P.J. Kurien allowed some members to speak before conveying
his decision on the motion for suspension of house business.
Communist
Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said a probe should be
ordered in the Lalit Modi case as well as the Vyapam scam and all
tainted ministers should demit office till the probes conclude.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal also made a similar demand.
Congress
members later trooped near the chairperson's podium even as Kurien
allowed the motion and called upon members to move it.
Amid the ruckus, the upper house was adjourned till 3 p.m. and later for the day.
Sushma Swaraj also conveyed her willingness for an immediate debate through tweets.
Speaking
to reporters, Sharma said the Congress was determined to ensure
accountability by the BJP-led government and would not let parliament
function till its demands for the resignations were met.
"This
government is thick-skinned and think they are not accountable. Both
houses of parliament will function only after there is accountability,"
he said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu,
however, said there was no immoral act by any minister and accused the
Congress of trying to defame the government.
"That's why they are
not willing for a debate," Naidu said, adding that there was no
substitute to healthy debate in a democracy.
BJP leader and union
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that if the Opposition
wanted discussion on Vyapam, they must agree to discuss controversies
related to Congress chief ministers in Assam, Kerala and Himchal
Pradesh.
He said the Congress was "running away from discussion because it knows it will be exposed".