The Gurdaspur attack found its echo in Lok Sabha where members across the political spectrum condemned the incident and asked the government to use all the force to quell terrorism which continues to threaten the nation.
Members of the Akali Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of Indian-Marxist and the Biju Janata Dal spoke on this morning's attack during the Zero Hour amidst the din created by members of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal-United and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi over various issues.
TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the terror attack was a national issue and needs to be taken up for discussion on a priority basis. Other issues like corruption or the land acquisition bill also need to be discussed but "somewhere we should make a beginning," he said.
Mohd Salim (CPI-M) condemned the terror attack in Gurdaspur. At the same time, he questioned the "resurgence" of terrorism while observing that "the kind of politics in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir" was responsible for it.
BJP member S S Ahluwalia wanted the House to pass a unanimous resolution against terrorism coming from across the border, an apparent reference to Pakistan.
TRS member A P Jithender Reddy, while condemning the attack, welcomed that the Home Minister will make a statement.
Complaining that he was "pained" at not being allowed to speak on the terror attack in Gurdaspur earlier, Kharge said it was not good and there was no justice.
"I was not allowed to express my views. I am hurt... I don't know who had exerted pressure," Kharge said and wondered what would happen if members are stopped from expressing their views in the House.
Taking a dig at Congress for disrupting the proceedings, Naidu said those who create disruptions cannot find fault with the Speaker. "You cannot eat the cake and have it again."
Amid protests, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that raising issues and holding placards both cannot go together.
Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, who spoke later on the incident, condemned the attack but said there was an intelligence failure on part of the central government.
This elicited sharp reaction from Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who said, "This is a very serious issue. This is a national issue. Trying to find fault with the government when the encounter is on, this is not done... This is not the time to score points."
Accusing the Congress party of "failing to keep national interests over its political agenda", Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said the chief opposition party stood "isolated" in disrupting the Parliament at a time when MPs of other parties condemned the Gurdaspur terror attack and stood in solidarity.
“Congress fails to keep national interests over political agenda and gets hurt. Later tries to cover up and fails. Shows how bad politics can hurt a party,” Naidu said.
“They did not even appreciate the seriousness of the attack and its implications. As a result, the Congress was isolated. Later the Congress tried to blame the speaker. (Mallikarjun) Kharge was told plainly that you cannot disrupt the house and also speak. You can't have the cake and eat it too. The Congress should have called off protests to demand discussion on terror attack. Blind politics has a price. Grand old party should at least now realise,” he said.
"It is sending a very wrong signal. They should understand. I appeal to them. The entire country, and more so a party like Congress, should speak in one voice at least on issues of national security," he said.
“In such matters (Gurdaspur terror attack), there should be no politics. We should speak in one voice. While many Opposition parties have joined together in condemning this terrorist attack and are also expressing solidarity, it is unfortunate that the main Opposition party which ruled the country for years started disturbing even those statements,” he said.
Naidu also also took a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi on his Kisan padyatra and the dharna of Opposition parties from Left and Janata Parivar in the national capital on farmer’s issues saying they agitate outside but do not allow Parliament to discuss these issues.
“Today farmers' issues were raised (in Parliament). People are making comments outside. Some people are also taking a padyatra but they do not allow a debate inside Parliament," the minister said.
After a washout of the Lok Sabha proceedings for a week, noisy protests by the opposition over Lalit Modi, Vyapam and other issues today led to repeated adjournments of the house.
Naidu said that he had assured members in Lok Sabha that the Gurdaspur attack was a serious one and the government was willing to make a statement on the issue and even discuss the issue once the encounter between the security forces and the terrorists was over.
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