New Delhi: BJP on Monday sought to put the blame
on government for the deadlock in Parliament, saying its
decision on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail without
discussing the matter with opposition had led to the
stalemate.
In a press interaction, Leader of Opposition in Lok
Sabha Sushma Swaraj said government's position that opposition
was not allowing Parliament to function "is completely wrong".
"When the discussion on price rise was to take place
and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) rose up to speak last Thursday,
Congress MPs from Telangana had raised their demand.... I
tried unsuccessfully to persuade them to allow the House to
run... Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal were not present," she said.
BJP toed the line taken by Left parties that government
was stalling Parliament as it did not want legislations like
the Lokpal Bill to be passed.
"I corroborate the views of Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) that
government does not want to bring the Lokpal Bill and what
happened last Thursday substantiates this charge," Swaraj
said.
BJP also did not appear optimistic about the outcome of
the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister
tomorrow. "Rollback FDI in retail and (you can) run the
House," Swaraj said to government.
The party alleged that government took then decision to
allow 51 per cent FDI in Parliament despite divisions within
the Cabinet itself.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 28, 2011, 18:16