New Delhi, Aug 25
The country's political
atmosphere has been vitiated by the "confrontationist attitude" of the
government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an "autocrat" who is not
making efforts to reach out to the opposition, Congress leader and
former Union minister Jairam Ramesh has said.
Ramesh also slammed
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his remarks about "indirectly
elected" Rajya Sabha holding up reform proposals passed by the
"directly-elected" Lok Sabha.
Asked about the perception that
relations between the government and the main opposition party were
marked by bitterness, Ramesh said that Modi was not making any attempt
at reaching out.
"Mr. Modi is not making any attempt at reaching
out. It is not in his nature. It is not in his DNA. There is no
communication. His whole approach is confrontationist. His rhetoric is
confrontationist. His body language is confrontationist. It does not
seem to me he is interested in working with people," Ramesh told IANS in
an interview.
"He has not reached out to his own ministers, forget the Congress party. He is autocrat to the core," the Congress leader added.
The
three-week-long monsoon session of parliament that concluded Aug 13 was
washed out due to the stalemate over the Congress demand for the
resignation of three BJP leaders. It was also marked by personal attacks
and acrimony between the leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
Within and outside parliament, the Congress
pressed for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for their alleged help to
former IPL chief Lalit Modi who is facing an Enforcement Directorate
probe.
The party also sought the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the Vyapam scam.
Asked if the party was sticking to its demand for the resignation of the three BJP leaders, Ramesh asserted: "Yes. Absolutely."
Ramesh,
a former rural development minister and a Congress MP in the Rajya
Sabha, said the government has to take the initiative to break the
logjam in parliament.
"It is not the job of opposition to create a
consensus. It is the job of the government to reach out. It is the job
of the opposition to meet half way. He (Modi) has to play (a more
proactive role). We all know this is a Modi-driven government. The PM is
the fount of all accountability," Ramesh said.
Asked about
Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar's remarks that the
political bitterness was at its worst since the 1975-77 emergency,
Ramesh said: "The political atmosphere has been vitiated because of the
government's confrontationist attitude."
Asked about the
government mulling a special session of parliament to get the Goods and
Services Tax Bill passed, Ramesh said he had no idea of the government's
plans.
"We have made our stand very clear on GST. We want an 18
percent ceiling, compensation for panchayats and nagar palikas, a
dispute settlement mechanism and one percent additional tax to go. The
government should consider our suggestions," Ramesh said.
The GST
bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacks a
majority. The Congress is the single largest party in the upper house
with 68 MPs.
Asked if the Congress will allow the Rajya Sabha to
function, Ramesh said the question should be put to the party's floor
managers.
Ramesh, who worked closely with Congress vice president
Rahul Gandhi on the previous UPA government's Land Act, slammed Jaitley
for his remarks that the time had come for a debate on to what extent
an "indirectly elected" house can hold up reform proposals passed by the
"directly-elected" Lok Sabha which represents the will of the people.
"I
don't understand where he gets this strange theory from. The
constitution of India makes no distinction between the two except
insofar as money bills are concerned," Ramesh said.
"In the
constituent assembly debates, people saw the need for an upper house.
Just because they don't have majority in the upper house does not mean
you run down the upper house. Both houses are equally important and have
a role to perform," Ramesh said.
(Prashant Sood can be reached at prashant.s@ians.in)
