Despite the monsoon session of Parliament being a near washout so far, the government hopes to resolve the impasse at an all-party meeting on Monday to pave the way for discussion on issues raised by the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.
Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can also intervene during the discussions, if required.
"Tomorrow (Monday), I have called for an all-party meeting and I hope the meeting will be fruitful and we will be able to resolve the issues and then move forward," he said.
Congress-led Opposition has stalled the proceedings of Parliament insisting on the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for helping "fugitive" former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi. It is also seeking the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.
Naidu, while seeking an end to the logjam, defended the three Bharatiya Janata Parry leaders, saying," As far as the government is concerned, we have not done anything wrong. Nothing illegal, nothing immoral has been done by any of our ministers.
"We are ready to discuss any issue at any length... The government is always ready to walk the extra mile to accommodate views of the opposition, if their request is fair," he said.
Asked if Modi will intervene during discussions, Naidu said,"...Let me hear from them (Opposition parties including the Congress) instead of going by media reports and all. If there is a debate, if there is a discussion, and if it warrants, the prime minister can intervene, always. He has intervened earlier also."
The minister recalled PM's intervention during discussion on the contentious land bill and farmers' suicides. "But, first let me understand what is it they want the prime minister to intervene. The other day we were discussing an important issue like terrorist attack in Punjab. But some of my friends in opposition do not have patience even to hear that also," he said.
"A wrong signal is about to go...we should not. Because on such issues which are sensitive and security related and which are country’s unity related, we must have a frank discussion, we must speak in one voice and we must convey to the international community that our neighbour (Pakistan) is trying to aid, abet, fund, train terrorists and then the focus should be on terrorism," Naidu said.
Deprecating any blame game over the disruptions in Parliament, the minister asked the Opposition to allow discussion, as there was no substitute for a healthy debate in democracy.
War of words
The government charging the Opposition with "negativism" and "obstructionism" while the Congress hit back by questioning the sincerity of the ruling side to break the logjam in Parliament.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who addressed a press conference at BJP headquarters too made it clear that the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, in which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is under attack, cannot be discussed at all as it concerns a state.
Attacking the Congress, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the party may be upset with the government for "political reasons" but it must "accept and seriously introspect" that "negativism" and its "obstructionist tendencies" would hurt the country and the economy. His attack in a Facebook post came in the context of the ambitious Goods and Services Tax Bill which is among the reform measures stuck as Parliament is unable to function because of relentless Opposition demands.
Reacting sharply, Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "The unwarranted, uncharitable and provocative statement by the finance minister and the BJP, accusing the Congress of disruption makes it abundantly clear that the government is neither serious nor sincere in breaking the deadlock in Parliament."
"The blame of Parliament's not functioning lies squarely with the prime minister for his arrogance and obduracy," Sharma said in a statement.
The Congress leader said it was "ironical that Arun Jaitley is asking the Congress to reflect whereas as per the government's own claim is that the Parliament has transacted more business in the last one year as compared to the previous 10 years.
"The credit for the Parliament work and clearing important legislative work in the last one year belongs to the responsible and mature Opposition whereas the blame for the derailment of the legislative business in the previous 10 long years lies with the BJP."
Dubbing the Congress as "confused", Sitharaman said earlier the Congress demanded a debate on the Lalit Modi issue. But when the government agreed to immediately "and to the shock of Congress", they demanded that the resignations should come first and only then would they participate in a debate.
She claimed that the Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan.
The minister also sought to drive a wedge in the Opposition unity by claiming that while the Congress is disrupting Parliamentary proceedings other Opposition parties are looking forward to a debate on important issues in the House.
At the same time, she said the government has no intent to "divide" the opposition and wants everybody on board.
Image: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photograph: PTI
