“Corruption should be a major issue and it should be discussed in the house, these empty slogans will not do”, Jaitley said as Congress members raised slogans calling government dictatorial and accusing them of vendetta politics.
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On Wednesday, Congress leaders said that there appeared to be two laws in the country-one for the government and its members and a second law for the opposition parties.
Members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also moved into the aisles in the morning demanding that the devastation caused by the Chennai floods be declared a national calamity. Soon after the House assembled, the Congress members rushed into the Well of the House and protested against the government.
“When a wedding was taking place in the house of (Himachal Pradesh chief minister) Virbhadra Singh, CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) raided his house.
But you raided the premises of our Gujarat leader Shankarsinh Vaghela”, said Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha.
Congress members continued shouting slogans such as “Modi teri tanashahi nahi chalegi (Prime Minister’s authoritarianism will not be tolerated)”. The House was adjourned till 12 noon.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, expressed strong objections to the opposition’s behaviour. We are not able to run the house, important bills are pending. Nothing came out of this, and then ED (Enforcement Directorate) lodged a case against him.
Members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also protested against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on the Polavaram project, a multi-purpose dam in Andhra Pradesh whose reservoir spreads into parts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Hitting back at Congress, Naqvi asked the opposition party “not to threaten the courts through the Parliament”. “Start discussion on…on all issues”, he said.
Naqvi asserted that the government had nothing to do with the National Herald case which was a legal matter.
As Congress members kept shouting slogans from the Well, a visibly exasperated Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said he is “helpless”. Please send them outside and give them leave, those who are making noise here, so that they can introspect on how they are harming national interest.
He accused the government of misusing the state machinery.
Naqvi responded by saying that the government is ready for a discussion on corruption issues but Sharma countered saying, “First register FIR, then take action and then we will discuss”.
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O’Brien said every member of the House knows his and her responsibilities but wondered what one should do if “there is open political vendetta”.
