BJP still on the offensive, says Congress policy ‘destructive’

The BJP on Tuesday continued its confrontationist strategy in Parliament, blaming principal Opposition Congress for its “destructive, obstructionist and anti-development” policies. The ruling party also approved of Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s decision to suspend 25 Congress MPs on Monday.

The BJP’s hard stand baffled some even within the party as all it had succeeded in doing was to get the Opposition to close ranks behind the Congress. Even parties that had hitherto seemed amenable to the BJP’s advances, the Samajwadi Party for instance, expressed solidarity with the principal Opposition party. The SP, along with the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Left parties boycotted Parliament on Monday.

It now looks near impossible for the ruling party to get its most critical reforms bill – the Goods and Services Tax Bill – passed in this session as it is a Constitutional amendment and requires the government to have a two-thirds majority in the House.

But the BJP parliamentary party, which met on Tuesday, passed a resolution condemning the Congress. Proposed by Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the resolution mounted a counter-attack on Congress President Sonia Gandhi who described the suspension of her party MPs as a “black day for democracy”. The BJP reminded the Congress of the “dark days” of the Emergency.

“This is unfortunate that the Congress party which trampled democracy in 1975 by imposing Emergency and snatched away the citizen’s liberty is making such unfounded claims,” said the BJP resolution, citing expulsion of 63 opposition members from the House on March 15, 1989.

“The Congress has abdicated the responsibilities of a constructive opposition and is using its numerical strength in Parliament, especially in Rajya Sabha, to adopt a negative strategy. [The] BJP parliamentary party condemns the obstructionist, narrow and anti-development mindset of [the] Congress as it will have a serious and adverse influence in [the] long-term on the country which is emerging as an important economic power in the world,” said the resolution.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters after the meeting that the Congress had become a “destructive” opposition party.

The government had made “honest” efforts for the smooth conduct of the Monsoon Session, the BJP meet said, and accused Congress of a “U-turn” after initially agreeing to a debate on the Vyapam and Lalit Modi scandals.

Congress refused to attend a meeting called by Finance Minister and Leader of the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and also the government’s proposal for an all-party meet on July 31, the resolution said, accusing the opposition party of working with a “narrow political agenda”.

The BJP resolution charged the Congress with deliberately obstructing the Modi government’s attempts at the country’s resurgence and said the opposition party had been left “stunned” at Parliament’s productivity in the previous sessions.

It said Prime Minister Modi’s “increasing popularity” has become a “pain in the eye” of Congress. “This is unfortunate that a party with 130 years of history and which has ruled the country for over five decades has not been able to get over its shameful loss in 2014. It has not been able to digest the full majoirty given to Narendra Modi by people,” it said.

The party passed another resolution hailing the “historic” Naga peace accord, and said would usher in an era of peace and security in the north-eastern region.