New Delhi, April 5 (IANS): Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Thursday accused the Congress of being the “main culprit” for the washout of second half of the Budget session of Parliament and said it will hurt the opposition party badly in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
Talking to media persons here, Kumar said the Congress followed the “mysterious, unwise and strange” counsel from its President Rahul Gandhi after his return from Italy during the inter-session break. Kumar said the Congress is “extremely frustrated and intolerant” about the mandate given by people to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and (present Prime Minister) Narendra Modi in 2014.
“They are intolerant because the BJP and its allies have come to power in 21 states. This is getting reflected in the logjam in both houses of Parliament.”
“The Congress is the main culprit. The entire blame is on the Congress. In a democracy do parties which don’t get majority have the mandate to stop Parliament’s functioning?” he asked. The Minister said the Congress will have to explain to the people its conduct in Parliament. “We condemn this negative and intolerant politics of the Congress.”
He said the only major change in the Congress in the last two years has been elevation of Rahul Gandhi as President.
Denying opposition’s claims about lack of reachout by the Modi government to end the Parliamentary stalemate, Kumar said he had talked to Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge. “We are regularly meeting the floor leaders of all parties,” he said.
The second half of the Budget session, that saw repeated disruptions by several parties including those considered friendly to the BJP, will end on April 6.
