Headlines
Amid Parliament logjam, Congress protest continues
New Delhi, Aug 5
The Congress and some opposition parties on Wednesday persisted with
their protest against the suspension of 25 parliamentarians as logjam in
the Rajya Sabha continued over the opposition demand for the
resignations of three BJP leaders.
The BJP appealed to the Congress to reconsider its boycott of the Lok Sabha.
Congress
president Sonia Gandhi led the protest by party MPs near Mahatma
Gandhi's statue within the parliament complex on the second successive
day over the suspension of party MPs by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan.
The MPs wore black bands as a mark of protest and raised slogans against the NDA government.
"End
dictatorship", "Prime Minister break silence" "where have the 'achhe
din (good days)' gone" and "Sushma Swaraj resign" were some of the
slogans raised.
"We will continue the agitation tomorrow (Thursday)" as well, the Congress chief told the media.
Sonia
Gandhi said she was not aware of any proposal from the government to
end the parliament logjam or for revocation of the suspension of the
party MPs.
Janata Dal-United leaders Sharad Yadav and K.C. Tyagi,
Samajwadi Party's (SP) Dharmendra Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD)
Jaya Prakash Narayan Yadav, Communist Party of India-Marxist's P.
Karunakaran, Communist Party of India's D. Raja and Indian Union Muslim
League leader E. Ahamed were among those who participated in the
protest. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was among those present.
Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi said the party did "not like the decision
of the Lok Sabha speaker, but we respect her position".
The
party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said the
suspended MPs will not submit an apology to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The
Speaker had on Monday suspended the Congress parliamentarians for five
days for "wilfully obstructing the business of the house" and not
adhering to her repeated requests to observe the rules in the house.
The
Congress is pressing for the resignations of External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over their
alleged help to former IPL chief Lalit Modi and of Madhya Pradesh chief
minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.
When the Lok
Sabha assembled on Wednesday morning, opposition parties, including the
SP, RJD and the Nationalist Congress Party began shouting slogans
against the government and wanted to raise their issues.
The
speaker declined to entertain their requests and the members of the
three parties staged a walkout. Besides the Congress and Trinamool
Congress, members of the Left parties and Muslim League were also not
present in the house.
The Rajya Sabha faced two adjournments
before being adjourned for the day as the Congress members kept raising
slogans against the government and accused it of being "dictatorial".
Soon
after the upper house reassembled at 2 p.m. after two adjournments, the
Congress members trooped into the well shouting slogans against the
Narendra Modi government.
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien tried to
run the house but as the Congress members did not relent, he adjourned
the house for the day.
The Rajya Sabha has been facing continuous disruptions since the start of parliament's monsoon session since July 21.
Parliamentary
Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told reporters that the opposition
boycott in the Lok Sabha was a "disservice" to the nation and urged all
opposition members to come back to the house.
"The government is
ready to discuss any issue and if the opposition wants, the prime
minister is ready to intervene," Naidu said. He said the Congress had no
moral right to oppose the suspension of its 25 MPs.
Naidu said
63 MPs were suspended in 1989 during the Congress rule and even in the
previous UPA rule, some members faced similar action.
Environment
and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Congress should
apologise to the speaker for the behaviour of its members.
Communications
and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that
the Congress "attitude" was not conveying a positive image of the
country.
"They should review their stubborn attitude. The
opposition has a role in parliamentary democracy and the people expect
parliament to pass bills," Prasad told media persons.
Ravi Shakar Prasad said that the Congress should not give lessons to the BJP on democracy as it had imposed Emergency in 1975.
"My earnest request to the Congress is that it reconsider and do some soul- searching," the union minister said.