Let parliament function, NDA tells opposition

New Delhi, July 24
Members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Friday staged a protest at parliament complex here, urging the Congress to let the ongoing monsoon session of parliament go on smoothly.

They taunted the Congress for targeting Bharatiya Janata Party leaders over the Vyapam scam and the links of some BJP leaders with former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.

"A party (Congress) embroiled in corruption talks of clean politics. A very strange situation," Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral told the media.

The protesting parliamentarians held placards that read: "Save democracy, let parliament function."

"Why is the Congress running away from a debate, something which they had asked for," said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The protesters then staged a sit-in near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in parliament complex, the usual site for such demonstrations.

On the other hand, the Congress and Janata Jal-United criticised the BJP leaders for sitting on a dharna.

"It is the opposition that has the right to oppose, sit on a dharna and to demand action from the government. But today (Friday), the ruling party sat on a dharna," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

Taking a jibe at the protesters, Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav said in the Rajya Sabha: "Why was the ruling party sitting on a dharna? Who were they making their demands to? Were they making their demands to god?"

Questioning the silence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi over corruption in Congress-ruled states, the BJP leaders demanded the dismissal of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat over charges of graft in disaster relief.

"The Uttarakhand chief minister and his personal secretary are involved in a liquor scam and loot during the Uttarakhand floods," union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference.