BJP hits out at Congress, Rahul Gandhi, says UPA govt broke all records of corruption

Hitting out at the ruling Congress party, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, on Saturday said that last few Parliament sessions were washed out because of Telangana and the irony is only Congress MPs were protesting against the T-Bill.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Hitting out at the ruling Congress party, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said on Saturday that the last few Parliament sessions were washed out because of Telangana and the irony is that only Congress MPs were protesting against the T-Bill. Addressing a press conference after the completion of last day of the last session of 15th Lok Sabha, the senior BJP leader said, “Three sessions were wasted on the Telangana disruptions by the Congress. Several Parliament sessions were washed out because of the scams. There was a new scam which came to light every session.” “We are both satisfied and sad about the work we did during last 5 years in the parliament. We are happy that we could pass the Lokpal Bill and Telangana Bill,” Swaraj added while describing BJPs tenure. Showing faith in public for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Swaraj said, “However, it`s the people who will decide what role the BJP will play in the 16th Lok Sabha.” Further, mentioning the pepper spray incident, she added, “Congress MPs don`t listen to the PM and constitutional bodies have been seriously undermined. Bringing pepper spray in the Parliament was a disgrace.” Accusing Congress MPs for disrupting the Parliament, Swaraj said, "Congress has no control over its own MPs." Over the issue of corruption, she said that CAG and CVC were tarnished in the Parliament. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely also accused Congress party of losing its credibility. “In 2009, it was expected that UPA II will deliver at faster pace, but all it achieved was loss of credibility and lack of leadership. UPA government broke all records of corruption,” Jailety said. He added, “UPA`s foreign policies have soured our relations with other countries.” Criticising the UPA`s second term Jaitley said that this was a `wasted opportunity.` "A government can`t run on arrogance. You need to build concensus through discussions," he said. He also added that more could have been done in this session of parliament. Jaitely further said, “UPA lacks leadership. Sadly PM had no words to whatever happened in the country. Five years of the UPA government were a wasted opportunity.” Ridiculing the idea of Third Front, the senior BJP leader added, “Third Front is a failed idea, this country cannot afford the luxury of a failed idea.” Both the leaders then questioned Rahul Gandhi`s `late entry` into the fight against corruption and said that he (Rahul) had never spoken on the graft earlier. “His (Rahul`s) late entry is not even genuine,” Sushma said. While Jaitely said, "Congress has been involved in several scams like providing cash for votes, 2G spectrum, Coalgate, CWG, VVIP Agusta deal, and the Adarsh housing scam but Rahul Gandhi has never commented on a single issue." "He is a very late entrant into the anti-corruptions crusader bandwagon," he added. Friday was the last day of the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha. The 15th Lok Sabha has been the most disrupted ever with overall productivity being 61 percent. Just 13 percent of the time was spent on legislative business, 74 major bills were left pending and 20 bills were passed with less than five minutes of discussion, an IANS report said. The 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14) met for 357 days and 1,338 hours against an average of 600 days and 3,700 hours for the first three Lok Sabhas (1952-67).