The Congress continued to shout slogans and protest “political vendetta” in well of the Lok Sabha on the second day on Wednesday, even as the Speakers continued House proceedings amid the din. The party, which accused the ruling BJP for “picking” on Opposition leaders in a bid to “muzzle” their voices, has been trying to disrupting Parliament after a Delhi court summoned party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to appear in the National Herald case.
Outside Parliament, an aggressive Rahul Gandhi told reporters, “It is 100 per cent pure political vendetta... this is their way of doing politics. I have full faith in the legal system of this country. Earlier in the House, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue before Zero Hour, saying that his party had nothing against the judiciary, but questioned the government’s “intentions”, saying there were “two laws in the country – one for the ruling party and one for the Opposition”.
He named the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, the ‘Lalitgate” issue that concerned the Rajasthan Chief Minister, the alleged derogatory remarks by a Union Minister (VK Singh) after the death of two Dalit children and another Union Minister (Sanjiv Balyan) reportedly visiting the riot accused in Muzzafarnagar and “offering help”.
“No action has been taken by the government against these people, but the Opposition is being harassed,” he said referring to this as “dictatorial politics” to “intimidate the Opposition.”
The Congress was supported by the Trinamool Congress, which later walked out in protest as its leader Saugata Roy was not allowed to speak on the issue.
However, the government came down against the Congress, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu accusing the party of “threatening the judiciary through Parliament.”
“None of my Ministers has done anything wrong,” he said in reply to Congress allegations against two Union Ministers, decrying “Congress strategy” to disrupt the House.
“They have no facts. This is a court order. The government has no role,” said Naidu, applauded by the Treasury benches.
The repeated disruptions by the Congress threaten to cast a cloud on the Narendra Modi government’s efforts to push through key Bills, such as on GST, for passage in the Winter session. The Rajya Sabha, too, is seeing disruptions since Tuesday after a Delhi court ordered Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on December 19 to face allegations on a case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of illegally acquiring property worth crores belonging to the now defunct National Herald newspaper.
In a separate protest, Biju Janata Dal, demonstrated against the Polavaram irrigation project, saying it would submerge over 600 poor, tribal villages.