Congress never opposed Triple Talaq bill: Anand Sharma

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Saturday dismissed charges from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the Congress party is responsible for stalling the Triple Talaq Bill and not letting it pass in the Rajya Sabha.

"We never opposed the Triple Talaq bill. Their allies also have objections on the issues of criminality. It is good that the BJP is worried about the Muslim women in the country. What about every woman then? Why are they not introducing the Women Reservation Bill? They have numbers as well," Sharma said.

Slamming the government on the twin policies like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, Sharma took a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, "Dr. Manmohan Singh was a democrat prime minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a dictator. India has the highest rates of GST. Many products such as the petroleum, liquor are out of the GST slab, and yet, the rates are higher. The MSME have suffered loss and crores of people have their jobs because of the demonetization. It is the responsibility of the government in power and not the opposition."

Mocking the government that they are "worried" about the grand alliance between the Congress and other parties to counter the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sharma added, "We haven't announced any Grand Alliance, yet, they are worried. There will be a state-wise alliance and in many states, there will be a direct fight between Congress and BJP. They are worried about the unity of the opposition, especially after Kairana, Phoolput, and Gorakhpur.