Cong disrupting House, and shunning talks; expose them: Modi to MPs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (July 27) tore into the Congress, accusing it of disrupting the monsoon session of Parliament, and deliberately avoiding discussion on contentious issues.

The Parliament has been witnessing frequent disruptions for the past many days with Opposition parties including the Congress staging protests and raising slogans against the government over a slew of issues – from the Pegasus snooping scandal to the farm laws.

Modi, who was addressing the BJP’s Parliamentary party meeting, said the Congress was deliberately avoiding the Centre’s attempts to resolve the issues and asked BJP parliamentarians to “expose” the party before the media and public.

The prime minister said the Congress deliberately boycotted the all-party meeting on the COVID-19 situation last week and also prevented leaders from other parties to attend it.

Also read: Chaos in Parliament again; Pegasus row, farm laws leave govt on the backfoot

The Parliament has been in turmoil since the Pegasus scandal broke out on July 18. On July 19, Modi wasn’t allowed to complete his introduction of the new cabinet ministers due to slogans raised by the opposition.

Amid demands for Home Minister Amit Shah’s sacking, the government on Monday tried to break the impasse over the Pegasus issue by inviting the opposition for a discussion.

On Monday, while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned at least five times after sloganeering by Opposition MPs, the Lok Sabha ran for just 30 minutes before being adjourned due to frequent interruptions. The spectacle of the day was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi driving a tractor into the Parliament premises to protest against the farm laws.

On Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha was again adjourned for an hour after opposition parliamentarians questioned the government on the Pegasus scandal and farm laws.

The Congress, however, has squarely blamed the government for the disruptions in Parliament, as it has not agreed to the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on the Pegasus issue.

The Opposition has been demanding a Supreme Court-led inquiry into the issue, but the government has turned it down.

During his address on Tuesday, prime minister Modi also asked BJP MPs to mark 75 years of independence by organising programmes in every village of their constituencies, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said.

Modi told BJP MPs that the 75th anniversary celebrations of independence should not merely be a government programme, but should be a people’s movement with people’s participation.

He asked the MPs to form a team of two party workers in each Assembly segment, which will organise the programmes and seek suggestions and ideas from people on how they envisage India in 2047, when the country will complete 100 years of independence.

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The prime minister said that these teams of two BJP workers will visit 75 villages in each Assembly constituency and spend 75 hours in each constituency. The 75 years of independence can also be celebrated by organising local sports events and cleanliness drives, Modi said. He also emphasised on the digital literacy of people in rural India so that they can avail maximum benefits of the government welfare schemes.

(With inputs from agencies)