BJP to boycott meetings called by speaker, Kamal Nath

Accusing Congress president Sonia Gandhi of inciting MPs for disrupting her speech, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj Tuesday said that her party would not be attending any meetings called by Speaker Meira Kumar or Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath.

Condemning Swaraj's statement soon after, the Congress said it was "objectionable" the way she slammed the Congress chief.

Addressing a press conference, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said there was a "total breakdown" of the relationship between her party and the government, and that only what Sonia Gandhi dictates happens in the house.

"It is a situation of a total breakdown but the government is responsible, not me," Sushma Swaraj said, adding that the "countdown" for the government's fall has begun.

Reacting to this, Congress leader and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said: "The leader of the opposition has used very objectionable words in her press conference. Nothing can be more condemnable than saying that the Congress president was inciting Congress members to disrupt the house and create a ruckus."

He said that it was the BJP which was not letting the house function.

Sushma Swaraj also said that Sonia Gandhi had no respect for democratic institutions.

"The Congress chief incited ministers to interrupt my speech. The Congress president does not care about Indian democracy and she does not believe in democratic institutions," she said.

"Irrespective of what was decided at all-party meets, the Congress president dictates what happens in parliament," the BJP leader said.

"I was expecting the Lok Sabha speaker (Meira Kumar) to come to my support as it was agreed upon at the all-party meeting Monday that I could make a statement on reasons for the BJP disrupting parliament. But Congress members began interrupting me within two minutes of my speech," she said.

"The speaker did not come to my support and told me to sit down. The BJP has decided not to attend any meetings called by the speaker and not engage in any talks with the parliamentary affairs minister," she said.

"Congress MPs created a ruckus, but I had the confidence that the speaker will come to my rescue. But instead of asking the MPs to sit down, the Lok Sabha Speaker asked me to wrap up my speech and sit down. I felt very sad and hurt," she said.

Sushma Swaraj accused the Congress-led government of disrespecting all constitutional institutions, including the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and parliament.