New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday escalated its attack on the Congress party and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi over continuous disruptions in Parliament and blamed the latter’s “my way or the highway” approach for the poor productivity during the Monsoon Session.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament culminated on Thursday, with the Lok House recording a mere 19 per cent productivity while the Rajya Sabha logged 39 per cent productivity.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, addressing the media at party HQ, said the government has been willing and forthcoming in accommodating the Opposition’s concerns and questions, but it was because of the latter’s arrogance and stubbornness that no middle ground could be reached.
He accused Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly shifting the goalpost, terming it as the key reason behind the Parliament washout.
In a direct charge, Prasad said, “The entire Monsoon Session of Parliament stood sacrificed at the altar of arrogance, delinquency and sense of entitlement and total indiscipline by a person known as the Leader of Opposition (LoP).”
The BJP MP listed out a series of instances as to how the Gandhis tried to stall the proceedings and kept the House ‘hostage’ to their whims and fancies.
“Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, without due permission from the police and authorities, rushed to the Prime Minister’s official residence where they gheraoed the complex despite knowing the sanctity of the highly-secured complex. When the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressed his grievances, he first agreed but then changed stance,” Prasad pointed out.
He said the government was quick and prompt in passing the NEET amendment bill and also formed a high-powered committee under Nandan Nilekani to bring next-generation reforms in the education sector, but then Rahul mounted a fresh campaign for the Education Minister’s resignation.
When the issue was settled, he kicked up a fresh row over students’ stir in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and disrupted the House, demanding Home Minister Amit Shah’s response on the alleged crackdown.
“Yesterday, Home Minister offered to engage in debate till late night. The issue was also raised by Kiren Rijiju in the Business Advisory Committee,” said Prasad, raising questions over Rahul’s absurd commentary, which revolved around the Home Minister’s resignation.
Prasad asserted that the polity, politics and democracy can’t run on the arrogance and sense of entitlement of the Leader of Opposition.
“For the past ten days, he and the Congress party have stalled Parliament despite the government offering to address the issues raised by the Opposition. This shows their brazen attempt to derail and disrupt House proceedings,” he said.
Taking direct potshots, he said that Rahul Gandhi is an “irresponsible, delinquent, arrogant and immature politician”.
“Rahul and Congress want to run the House through a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude. They want to dictate terms and unilaterally decide the functioning of the House, ignoring the accepted standards and protocols. This is unacceptable in a vibrant democracy,” the BJP leader said.
(IANS)
