Gujarat: Congress, BJP spar over Parliament logjam

Ahmedabad, Dec 22 (PTI) The opposition Congress and ruling BJP in Gujarat on Sunday blamed each other for the frequent disruptions during the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament.

Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil levelled the charges on behalf of his party, while BJP's Lok Sabha MP and Gujarat president CR Paatil counter-attacked.

“We wanted to discuss some issues. But the ruling party itself made noise, raised slogans and did not allow Parliament to function for days. This has never happened before,” Gohil said during a press conference in Vadodara.

Paatil issued a video statement saying clips of the live proceedings of Parliament are enough to show that the Congress was responsible for the disruptions.

“The Congress leader alleged that the ruling party did not allow Parliament to function properly. People across the country have witnessed the live telecast of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings and seen how Congress leaders climbed onto the Speaker’s dias and the way they acted,” Paatil said.

He said the Congress did not allow a single question and answer session and caused hindrance, for which there are proofs in the form of video recordings.

“Congress should therefore stop misleading people to save its leaders. What its importance is in the eyes of the people and what kind of feelings do people have for them are clear from the results in Haryana and Maharashtra (polls),” he added.

Addressing the media, Gohil further claimed that it happened for the first time that when the opposition was protesting in Parliament, BJP MPs came forward and fought and there are CCTV cameras everywhere to show as proof.

“If you look at the facts, you will find that when it was time for Parliament (proceedings), the BJP MPs stopped the Congress MPs on their way and attacked them. They pushed and shoved and even (Mallikarjun) Kharge saheb was pushed," he said.

Their leader Rahul Gandhi was wrongly accused by a BJP MP for hurting him, he said.

BJP’s Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput got injured on Thursday following a scuffle between the opposition and ruling BJP MPs on the premises of the Parliament building. The BJP has accused Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of physical assault and incitement.

According to PRS Legislative Research, a think tank that studies India's legislatures, the Lok Sabha functioned for 52 per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha for 39 per cent of its scheduled time during the Winter Session.

The Lok Sabha's Winter Session, was hamstrung by disruptions over issues ranging from Adani to billionaire George Soros’ "links" with the Congress leadership and Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks on Dr B R Ambedkar.

According to PRS, Question Hour did not function for more than 10 minutes on 12 out of 20 days in the Lok Sabha. Several notices for adjournment motions were received in the Lok Sabha, but none was accepted. Both Houses were adjourned without transacting any substantial business on the last day of the session amid Opposition protests. PTI KA NR