Dismissing the Congress’ demand for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her colleague and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu called her a national “asset”, and said the principal Opposition was scuttling Parliamentary proceedings because it was “really rattled” by the Modi government’s successes.

“Sushma Swaraj is a great asset to the nation. There is a no allegation at all. Still they [Congress] want her to resign,” he said, addressing a function of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

Naidu also termed as “outstanding performers” Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who are both under attack from the Congress for their alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi issue and the Vyapam scam respectively. The Minister dismissed Opposition demand that they quit.

Naidu was effusive in his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he said, was “God’s gift to the nation” under whose leadership it had achieved successes like the Indo-Bangla land boundary accord and the Naga peace deal. It is because of him that Australia and Canada were willing to provide uranium for India’s nuclear reactors, he said.

Defending Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s decision to suspend 25 Congress MPs, Naidu said when the latter was in power such steps had been taken several times, including in 1989, when 63 MPs were suspended, and also in 2013.

Countering Congress criticism that the Modi government had followed the “Gujarat model” in suspending the MPs, Naidu shot back, asking “Was there any Gujarat model in 1989?”

“They should not give any sermons. It is a case of sau chuhe khake billi Haj ko chali (after committing many sins, they are pretending to be holy)’,” he said.

The Union Minister also termed as “ridiculous” the Congress’s argument that since six of its ministers had been forced to resign by the BJP-led Opposition, there would be no let-up in its campaign demanding the resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chouhan.

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