Headlines
'BJP must drop its tainted leaders if it wants business in parliament'
By
Sushil KumarNew Delhi, July 26
"First resign, order probe
and then discuss what you have to", used to be the baseline for the BJP
when in opposition. But now since the party is in power, it refuses to
follow its "own tradition" on issues of national importance, says the
opposition.
Opposition leaders K.C. Tyagi of the Janata Dal,
D.Raja of the CPI and Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad accuse
the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to save its "tainted" leaders,
including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. But an unrelenting
BJP has instead accused the Congress of disrupting the ongoing monsoon
session of parliament.
Tyagi of the Janata Dal told IANS that the
BJP seems to have forgotten what it would do while in opposition when
there were issues involving ruling parties.
"The BJP would ask
for resignation of an accused leader and say that only after the person
concerned resigns or steps down, there could be any debate on the
matter," he said.
Tyagi, expressing concern over "how the BJP was
trying to save its tainted leaders", said it was "unfortunate" that
parliament's precious time was being wasted as the government was
refusing to ask External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, accused of
helping fugitive Lalit Modi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje,
accused of having done
illegal business deals with the same man, and
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused of being
involved in the Vyapam scam, to resign from their respective posts.
"They
(BJP) themselves set these benchmarks. While being on the other side
(in opposition) they would always ask for the resignation of tainted
ministers and officials, but now when their own are involved they refuse
to drop them," the Janata Dal leader said.
D.Raja also expressed the same feelings over the issue.
Speaking to IANS, Raja said there can't be a "meaningful debate" unless the tainted resign.
"Why
can't they resign? There are serious charges against them and they must
resign in order to ensure a fair probe into the matter," he said,
adding that if they come clean, as they are claiming to be, they could
take their seats back.
Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad,
going a step further from the general stand of the opposition on the
issue, said his party has always supported the government on various
matters and would never get involved in unnecessary parliament
adjournment tactics if the BJP drops the tainted ministers till they
come clean or otherwise.
"We are a responsible opposition. We
don't believe in disrupting parliamentary proceedings; the BJP, however,
did it; but we won't do it and are ready to discuss all important bills
and other issues concerning the country," Ahmad told IANS.
Refusing
to believe the opposition, specially the Congress, the BJP said that
the Congress and the entire opposition "were not only disrupting
parliamentary proceedings; they were disrupting the country's economic
progress".
BJP's Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra told IANS that
"the Congress is not only obstructing parliamentary proceedings but also
obstructing the country's economic progress".
Ever since the
parliament monsoon session began on July 21, there has been continuous
disruption of proceedings in both the houses over the issue.