Sonia Gandhi says Ananth Kumar lying, blames government for Parliament logjam

Sonia Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at Parliamentary Affairs Minister and said it is the government that did not allow the Parliament to function.

Representational image (Pic courtesy: PTI)

New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar and accused him of "lying" and said it is the government that did not allow the Parliament to function.

Earlier in the day, Kumar 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.

Kumar also said that the entire country was watching Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi (Congress President), the Congress and their associates.

Countering the Minister, Sonia Gandhi told a TV channel, "I think it is shameful that the Parliamentary Affairs Minister can lie on the floor of House."

"Congress has been sitting patiently and always requested a discussion. It is the government and its allies that have not been allowing Parliament to function," she said.

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.

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, he said.

"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 said.

The Minister maintained that 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 Congress earlier used to stage walkouts, but now the party members repeatedly come near the podiums of presiding officers.

"This politics of the Congress is going to hurt them very badly in Karnataka," he added.