Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday singled out the Opposition Congress and accused the party of blocking Parliament as both Houses continued to be stalled for the sixth day over the snooping scandal, farm laws and other issues.
Addressing a weekly meeting of BJP MPs, Modi asked them to “expose the Congress before the people and the media”, saying the Opposition party was deliberately not allowing Parliament to function.
Modi singled out the Congress and attacked it despite the fact that other Opposition parties like the DMK, Trinamul Congress and the Left were also protesting and stalling Parliament.
“Modiji said that the Congress was not only blocking Parliament but it was also not allowing efforts to resolve the deadlock succeed,” said one BJP MP, who attended the closed-door meeting. “He asked us to expose the Congress before the people and the media.”
Party MPs said Modi particularly referred to the Congress’s boycott of the all-party meeting called by the government last week to review the Covid situation and added that it influenced others too to keep away.
“The Congress prevented other parties also from attending the meet,” Modi was quoted as saying.
The Congress, Akali Dal, AAP, RJD and the Left parties had boycotted the Prime Minister’s Covid review meet last week.
Modi’s attack on the Congress came as both Houses of Parliament couldn’t transact any substantial business for the sixth day on Tuesday.
The Congress despite being short of numbers was leading uproarious protests in both Houses and stalling the proceedings demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the Pegasus phone snooping row and scrapping of the new farm laws.
Modi had attacked the Congress at the meeting of party MPs last week too, seeking to paint it as the principal villain. The government appears to have succeeded in dividing the Opposition by managing most regional parties but the Congress continues to act as a spoiler.
Though the government has passed some bills even in the din, it may not be able to push other key bills in the two Houses if they are not in order to have a proper discussion.
Leader of the Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal, had on Monday invited Opposition leaders for a meeting to end the stalemate but they kept away saying they were not at the “beck and call” of the government and that the sudden invitation “smacked of arrogance”. Goyal’s invite came after RJD MP Manoj Jha accused the government of not making any substantial outreach to resolve the stalemate.
In the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, where the government enjoys a brute majority, repeated appeals were made from the Speaker’s chair to let the House function, stressing the government was ready to discuss all issues.
The Lok Sabha saw multiple adjournments, almost every half an hour, as the Congress, Trinamul and some other members waved placards and raised slogans against the government.
The government has been trying to show that it was ready for discussions on all issues but it was the Opposition, particularly the Congress, which was bent on only obstructing Parliament proceedings.
The monsoon session of Parliament commenced on July 19, a day after the Pegasus hacking row broke out, and is scheduled to continue till Aug 13.
