Congress hits back at Jaitley's 'unwarranted, uncharitable' remarks

Party says blame of Parliament's not functioning lies squarely with the Prime Minister for his 'arrogance'

Taking exception to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks, the Congress party on Sunday said the 'unwarranted, uncharitable and provocative' statements made by the former make it abundantly clear that the government is neither serious nor sincere in breaking the stalemate for the Parliament to function.

"The unwarranted, uncharitable and provocative statement made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the BJP accusing the Congress of disruption makes it abundantly clear that the government is neither serious nor sincere in breaking the stalemate for the Parliament to function," Congress leader Anand Sharma said in a statement.

"The blame of Parliament's not functioning lies squarely with the Prime Minister for his arrogance and his obduracy. It is 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 previous 10 years," he added.

Sharma further asked the BJP to desist from from giving 'patronising sermons' to the Congress.

"Arun Jaitley and the BJP are advised not to give patronising sermons to the Congress but to collectively reflect and apologise for their own conduct while in opposition," he said.

Questioning the Congress party's position on GST, Jaitley had earlier said that the former should accept and seriously introspect after having ruled the country for the longest period of time that negativism hurts the country.

In his article 'Dissent or Disruption - The Congress Party's Position on GST' posted on a social networking site, Jaitley said it was the Congress-led UPA Government that proposed the GST in the 2006-07 Budget.