The government on Tuesday blamed the opposition Congress party for the impasse in Parliament, which has seen no business being conducted in either House for the seventh day in this session.
Opposition parties and NDA ally Telugu Desam Party have been protesting both inside and out of Parliament on various issues since the start of the session, including demands for special category status for Andhra Pradesh and the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.
BJP MPs meet
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs H.N. Ananth Kumar briefed reporters after the BJP parliamentary party meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. The Minister said the government has been talking to different parties to break the deadlock in Parliament and targeted the Congress.
Mr. Kumar said that at the parliamentary party meeting, he had spoken to MPs about the continuing deadlock resulting in a washout of the second phase of the Budget Session so far.
He claimed that the Congress was running away from a debate on the PNB scam as it “feared” that many skeletons in its cupboard will tumble out if a debate was held.
Sources in the government said it would try and push through the Finance and Appropriations Bill at least in the Lok Sabha if the situation did not improve.
Three-line whip
BJP MPs have been issued a three-line whip to be present in both Houses between March 13-16.
Mr. Kumar also accused the Congress of being undemocratic. Raking up the excesses by the party during the Emergency in the mid-1970s, the Minister accused the Congress of harbouring a similar mindset towards Parliament in this session.
