Union Minister Ananth Kumar warns Congress of eviction if it stalls parliament's monsoon session

BENGALURU: Union parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar has warned the Congress against stalling the monsoon session of the parliament. The minister said that the Congress led by Rahul Gandhi had managed to disrupt proceedings by orchestrating protests in the budget session but it won't be allowed to do so in the next session. The statement came on the day 325 MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) staged a day-long hunger strike against stalling of parliament. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s MPs D V Sadananda Gowda, Ananth Kumar and P C Mohan led by Union Minister Prakash Javdekar sat on a day-long protest in Bengaluru while party president Amit Shah and state Chief B S Yeddyurappa accompanied by a host of state leaders protested in Hubballi on Thursday. In Bengaluru close to 200 party workers staged a satyagraha from 10 AM to 5 PM in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Anand Rao Circle. Addressing the protestors, Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda appealed for the Congress to be removed from parliament if disruptions continue. "I urge the parliamentary affairs minister (Ananth Kumar) to ensure that the members of the Congress party are evicted out of the house if they continue to disrupt so that important issues and bills are discussed in the floor of the house," he said. 

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for the Congress' "incomplete fast" earlier in the week, Ananth Kumar said," Modi has come from a poor background and is used to fasting all day but Shehzaada Rahul Gandhi has never fasted. This explains why he fasted merely for a couple of hours when his party staged a fake fast protest." The BJP accused the Congress of provoking parties like TDP and AIADMK to protest in the house with an intention of disrupting proceedings and stalling development of the country.

The Congress meanwhile said that the fast was an irony considering the BJP's disruptive ways while in opposition. "The BJP's style of capturing institutions has not spared the parliament too. No members are different," Randeep Surjewala, Spokesperson of the Congress said when asked about the party's stand on Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's handling of the budget session.