“On a day when the country should have spoken in one voice, we did not expect the Congress to present India as a divided house…”
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Responding to Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s charge that Congress was being “irresponsible” by not allowing Home Minister Rajnath Singh make a statement in Rajya Sabha on the terror attack, Surjewala said instead of delivering sermons, the government should work on brining back principal perpetrators of Mumbai blasts Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon and ensuring strongest of punishment to them.
“Such conduct by Congress members is condemnable”, it said, adding that such “undemocratic” behaviour of Congress members was seen in Lok Sabha too when the Gurdaspur terrorist attack took place.
He asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to explain why they are making such statements on the issue which is related to country’s security. There is a judicial process of law.
Jaitley said that BJP’s ideology was completely against any leniency being shown to those who took part in killings in Mumbai in 1993 or in the 26/11 terror incident. The house was soon after adjourned for the day. “Does the party’s small and petty politics hold more importance than the country’s national security?” he asked.
“The Congress, instead of giving importance to national security, gave priority to its petty politics and prevented a discussion on the issue”.
The BJP and the Congress on Thursday targeted each other over the parliament logjam, as the government indicated it could convene a meeting with the opposition to break the impasse. “It was an occasion when issues of national security are involved; they should have risen to the level of statesmanship… regrettably, they have failed that”, he added.
Sinha was among a group of eminent jurists, MPs and leaders of political parties who submitted a petition to President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday requesting him to consider Memon’s mercy plea.
In a separate reply, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said out of 24 life insurers, 4 have indicated that they have 75 life insurance products for people living with HIV (PLHIV).
“Such questions should be posed to those trying to create such obstructions that cause loss to the national economy”, he said.
Referring to the Congress demand for the resignations of BJP leaders, he said the opposition party had staged a symbolic protest for about two weeks.
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“When BJP was in power last time, former Prime Minister, whom we respect, Atal Bihar Vajpayee, had gone on a bus yatra to Pakistan while Pakistani army occupied Kargil”.
