Government's duty to break parliament logjam: Congress

The Congress on Thursday said it was the government's duty to break the logjam in the Lok Sabha over the Opposition demand for resignation of three BJP leaders, and the house will not function normally till there was an initiative from the treasury benches.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of leaders of parties in the Lok Sabha called by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to ensure smooth functioning of the house, Congress leader in the house Mallikarjun Kharge said the government has not reached out to the Opposition despite the impasse in the lower house.

"Till the time the government takes an initiative, the house will not function normally," Kharge said.

Proceedings of the Lok Sabha have been repeatedly disrupted since the start of the monsoon session on July 22 over the Congress demand for resignation of three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

The Congress is demanding resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for their help to former IPL chief Lalit Modi and resignation of Madhya Pradesh Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.

Kharge said the Congress and some other parties were insisting on resignation of the three leaders in accordance with the tactics adopted by the BJP in the past.

Kharge said the BJP said in 2010 and 2012 that there should be "resignations (of ministers in the then UPA government) first and discussions later".

He said BJP leaders including Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj said in the past that "causing disruption was part and parcel of democratic process and is a pressure tactic".

"We are adopting the same tactic. The tradition you have set, we are following that. The government should do its duty," Kharge said.

Kharge, who was accompanied by leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, said the Opposition was not doing "tit-for-tat".

He said the government has not reached out to leaders from other parties.

"They (government) are not taking initiative. They don't want to tackle the problem. It is left to them," he said.

Asked about the government response to their demand at the meeting, Kharge said Home Minister Rajnath Singh was present and indicated that the government would call a meeting and resolve the issue.

"Now (the matter) is left to the government. The ball is in their court," Kharge said.