The BJP is disinclined to make any concession to the Congress, and claims it has done all it could to end the deadlock in Parliament.
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The Congress on Saturday set down terms for attending the all-party meeting convened by the Narendra Modi government on Monday to break the two-week-long logjam in Parliament. If the Bihar Assembly polls have brought the Congress-JD(U) together, the Left can not back the Modi government due to its strong ideological opposition.
The Opposition has been asking for resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje since the Modigate issue surfaced.
Rejecting the opposition’s charge the government had not reached out to them, Mr Naidu said he had called a meeting of various parties today morning as well but Congress backed out at the last moment and added that he was looking to call a meeting on Monday.
He also took a swipe at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with students at FTII where he attacked the government over Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as chairman, saying he was not keen on discussing the issue in Parliament.
He said the BJP said in 2010 and 2012 that there should be “resignations (of ministers in the then UPA government) first and discussions later”. Union parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed the Congress proposals with virtual contempt. “Congress wants a satisfactory proposal”. We came to the conclusion that we have no objection to discussions, but the discussions should not be that you meet over tea, and I quoted (this) in Parliament also.
“Till the time the government takes an initiative, the house will not function normally”, Kharge said.
Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, stated Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh hinted that the federal government would attempt to name a gathering to resolve the difficulty.
“We have contacted several parties and are reaching others”, he said.
“Is petty politics more important for them than national security”, Jaitley questioned.
“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”, he said. But the Congress leaders – for reasons best known to them – are still to confirm their participation.
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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.
