GST Bill row: Congress is acting like a 'spoiled child', says BJP

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday slammed the Congress for holding the Monsoon Session hostage and said that the 130-year-old party had done a great disservice to the nation by blocking the GST Bill in the Parliament.

"We missed the opportunity for the most comprehensive reform in our country. Not even one bill could be passed in the Rajya Sabha this Monsoon Session. How can a party of 130 years of ruling declare before the Monsoon Session that it will be washed out? The Congress is acting like a spoiled child whose toy has been taken from them," Naidu told a press conference.

Naidu added that the Rajya Sabha has dropped a record low of nine percent in functioning and added the obstructions in the Parliament is nothing but suppression of people's mandate.

He asserted that the opposition is allowed to have its say at the end of the day but added that the government must be allowed to have its way.

"The Congress, which claims 130 years of seniority, 50 years of experience, has shown behaviour that is unacceptable, undemocratic and unreasonable. How can the party justify its need for disrupting Parliament in the name of revenge?" Naidu said.

Reacting on Wednesday's incident where Congress president Sonia Gandhi stunned everyone by rushing into the Well of the House furiously protesting against a BJP MP's insinuation against her sister, Naidu said that she had set a bad precedent for her party members.

"It was shocking and sad that the President of the 130-year-old party went to the well of the House. We could not believe what we saw. This has never happened in the history of India. Instead of guiding the erring party members, she set a bad precedent and justified the violation and disruption of the House. Hope she realises the mistake," he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal said that the government would work out alternatives to implement the GST Bill and accused the Congress of "insulting the people of the country" by disrupting the legislative business in the just-concluded Monsoon Session.