The Government today said it is ready to hold talks with the Congress to break the Parliamentary deadlock and a meeting in this regard would be held soon, a day after an all-party meeting called by the Lok Sabha Speaker failed to end the ongoing impasse.
The Government had indicated convening an all-party meeting to end the impasse in Parliament during the all-party meet yesterday.
“All parties had agreed yesterday during the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker that the Government should take the initiative (in running Parliament).
“The Government had planned to talk to the Congress today morning, but due to the CPP meeting, Congress leaders were not free. We will talk to them soon when Congress members are free,” Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
He, however, said it was a matter of concern that Congress members did not want to discuss even the issue of national security when Home Minister Rajnath Singh was giving a statement on the Gurdaspur terror attack.
The Opposition has been seeking the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje since the Modigate issue surfaced.
The Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said his party wants all those involved in Modigate to resign. He said the tradition of demanding resignations was set by the BJP when they were in the Opposition.
“Till there is no resignation, there will be no discussion. This is our demand,” he said, adding that they were trying to convince the Government on this, but it was not agreeing.
“It is the government’s responsibility to run Parliament. This is not the first time this is happening. Earlier, BJP had set this tradition of demanding resignation for everything and today they say the Congress is trying to create hurdles.
“All know this is far from the truth. That is why they are putting the blame on us. This is not right,” Kharge said.
The Congress has stalled both the Houses of Parliament and no serious business has taken place during the ongoing monsoon session, which started on July 21. Many important legislations, including the Land Bill, GST Bill and Real Estate Bill, are pending.