HOUSE LOGJAM MAY CONTINUE AS BJP, CONGRESS WON’T BUDGE
BJP wants Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his ‘democracy’ remark in UK; Congress wants the Hindenburg report on Adani discussed.
The Parliamentary logjam is likely to continue even next week of the second half of the Budget session of Parliament that began on Monday, as both the BJP and Congress are unlikely to budge over each other’s demands.
The BJP is clear that unless Congress’ Rahul Gandhi apologises to the nation from the floor of Parliament over his remarks about India in the United Kingdom, the ruling party would not budge over any other demand of the Congress. The Congress has been demanding a debate in Parliament over the Adanihindenburg report that alleged that the Adani Group is involved in corrupt practices for its businesses in India.
Guruprakash, national spokesperson of the BJP, told The Sunday Guardian that
Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the nation for “insulting the wisdom of 1.3 billion people of this country”. “What we are saying is that Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the nation from the floor of the House for his unsolicited comments about India and Indian democracy in a foreign land. He has insulted India by talking ill about our country in a foreign nation. Why is it so difficult for the Congress to ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the nation for his remarks about India and Indian democracy?” Guruprakash told this newspaper.
Earlier this week, in a media conclave, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also said that the Parliament logjam could only end if both sides, the treasury as well as the opposition, come and sit together to discuss the issues. “If they take two steps forward, we will also take two steps ahead, but they (Opposition) is unwilling to do that. The Opposition is unwilling to talk, there is no proposal from their side; we are ready to talk to them,” Amit Shah said. BJP sources, however, say that the strategy of the party is clear that Rahul Gandhi must apologise before the nation and that any debate could only take place following his apology. “The BJP is clear in its stand; Rahul Gandhi must issue an apology. He has done this in the past and got away. We cannot let him go to a foreign land and keep insulting India. The BJP will continue to demand his apology in Parliament. The Parliament will most likely start conducting business after the Congress budges on saying sorry to the nation,” a BJP MP told The Sunday Guardian.
BJP MP from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey has also written to Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday, demanding to suspend Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Dubey said, “I have written a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker to form a special committee and start an inquiry on the comments made by Rahul Gandhi, like what was done during the cash for vote scheme when 11 MPS were suspended from the Lok Sabha. I also want Rahul Gandhi to be suspended from Lok Sabha.”
“Rahul Gandhi needs tuition to even speak two words and Jairam Ramesh has been continuously teaching him. We want an inquiry on who is teaching Rahul Gandhi to speak ill about India and Indian democracy abroad,” Dubey told this newspaper.
However, the Congress is unwilling to budge to the demands of the BJP and has said that Rahul Gandhi has done no wrong for him to apologise to the nation. The Congress, however, is saying that the BJP is demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi and using it as a diversionary tactic to avoid a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) on the Adani-hindenberg report. The Congress, since the beginning of the second half of the Budget session of Parliament, has been demanding that the Parliament should be allowed to debate and discuss the Adani issue over the Hindenburg report.
Senior Congress leader and spokesperson of the Congress, Manish Tewari, told The Sunday Guardian that Rahul Gandhi would not apologise. “Why should Rahul Gandhi apologise, for what? As a parliamentarian, I have the freedom to say absolutely anything on the floor of the House and according to uncodified rules, I also have the freedom to speak outside the Parliament. If the BJP has a problem with Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the UK, they should take the recourse of law and file a civil suit in the UK, rather than holding the Parliament hostage.”
Reacting to BJP’S demand over suspending Rahul Gandhi from Parliament, Tewari told this newspaper, “The BJP’S demand is nothing short of laughable. These are pure tactics to deflect from the real issues that India is facing. Why is the BJP scared of holding a debate or a JPC over the Adani issue?” The second sitting of the Budget Session of the Parliament that began on Monday has witnessed ruckus both inside and outside the Parliament, forcing the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to adjourn the House multiple times throughout the week. Even the Rajya Sabha witnessed similar scenes where members jumped to the well of the House, disrupting the functioning of the House. The first week was washed out with little business in both the Houses of Parliament.