Upping the ante ahead of the all-party meeting convened by the government, the Congress on Saturday insisted that the issue of action against three top BJP leaders should be on the agenda if the deadlock in Parliament is to be broken.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “We have no objection to holding discussions to break the logjam, but it should be based on what action is taken against Union Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje [in connection with the Lalit Modi row] and [Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan] over the Vyapam scam."
Mr. Azad said the Congress was keen on the passage of important Bills in the current session of Parliament.
The monsoon session has seen constant adjournments due to protests over the Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam.
Mr. Azad also hit out at Home Minister Rajnath Singh, saying there was no need for anybody to lecture the Congress on fighting terror. He told reporters that Mr. Singh was attempting to divert attention away from the “failures” of the government.
Mr. Singh on Friday >blamed the erstwhile UPA government’s policies and its focus on ‘Hindu terror’ for the Gurdaspur terror attack.
“The government which released dreaded militants and flew them to Afghanistan should not lecture us on terrorism,” he said.
The Congress had on Friday made it clear that its participation in the all-party meeting to break the deadlock in Parliament depended on a “tangible” proposal from the Prime Minister on the Opposition’s demands.
