Congress ‘running away’ from constructive debate, says BJP

The Government on Tuesday accused the Opposition parties of disrupting Parliament and “running away” from any constructive debate on corruption.

After repeated adjournments in the Rajya Sabha over External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s reported assistance to former IPL chief and controversial businessman Lalit Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the offer by the Minister to make a statement and debate the issue was rejected because the idea is to disrupt the House.

“We get a distinct and clear impression that the Opposition wants disturbance for some time. They don’t want a discussion. The government is publicly declaring, as we have in the House, that we are ready for a discussion in any format, at any time,” Jaitley told reporters after the Rajya Sabha was adjourned repeatedly over the issue. “We offered that Sushma Swaraj could reply to the discussion. Other central ministers, if necessary, will also reply to the discussion and in case they want her to make a statement, we can even start with her making a statement and the discussion could be structured around her statement. We left the option to the Opposition which has not been accepted by them,” he said.

He said the Opposition had given a notice under Rule 267 for suspension of Question Hour and proceedings and to take up a discussion against Sushma Swaraj and some State leaders, including Chief Ministers. Jaitley, however, said State issues cannot be discussed in Parliament according to past precedents and the federal politics of the country.

“Obviously State issues can’t be discussed. There has not been a single precedent in the history of Indian Parliament where State issues are discussed. That’s the part of federal politics of India. But as far as other issues are concerned, we offered that we are ready for discussions and we are ready right now for a discussion,” he said.

The BJP then fielded the Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to accuse the Congress over its “shifting stand”.

Asked if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak on the issue, Prasad did not rule it out, saying Modi had spoken in both the Houses on a row over Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti but noted that it had not stopped Congress from stalling Parliament.

He said Congress cannot be selective about raising State issues and added that all parties could decide by consensus to break the Parliamentary tradition of not discussing State issues in Parliament.

Then there could also be discussions on scams in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh; all ruled by Congress, he said sarcastically.

“The Congress cannot make reckless allegations and throw well-settled Parliamentary traditions to the wind,” he said.

He also attacked Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi over his choice of words and said mockingly that the party was showing this arrogance after being reduced to 44 seats in the Lok Sabha.