Cong says opposition politicking on food bill, not soft on Mulayam

Says opposition did not cooperate earlier in passage of the food bill despite govt's willingness to accommodate their views

Congress today accused Opposition of "politicking" on food security bill and dismissed suggestions that the CBI was going soft on Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in the disproportionate assets case to bring him on board on the legislation.

   
Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said the Opposition did not cooperate earlier in passage of the food bill despite government's willingness to accommodate their views and expressed hope that the UPA government's flagship programme would receive Parliament nod in the monsoon session.

   
Government opted for Ordinance as no consensus could be built on the issue. "We had no other option but to issue an ordinance. The bill will now go to Parliament and it is upto the members to pass this bill or not," he told reporters here.

   
"The Opposition is politicking", he said, adding, if they had wanted, the bill could have been passed earlier.

   
Asked about reports that CBI might file a closure report in the eight-year-old disproportionate asset case against Yadav to get SP's backing for the food bill, he said, "This kind of speculation keeps happening".

   
"Mulayam Singh Yadav and his politics are far above these things. He is a very important and big leader of this country. I don't think, we must demean him by the fact that a simple report here and there is something that would dictate his political decisions," Dikshit said.

He said Yadav was "well within his rights" and he would take a political decision depending on his political commitment, "not on some closure report."

     
He said food security bill was not related to elections, denying suggestions that 2014 Lok Sabha polls had prompted the UPA government to push the measure.

Congress was only implementing its manifesto and "it is a well considered bill", he said.

   
Dikshit also rejected suggestions that CBI was going soft on former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in the cash-for-post Railway bribery case.

   
"CBI looks at the evidence that is prosecutable. We should leave it to CBI. It is a competent organisation...Every thing goes to the court. Ultimately, it will be decided by the court," the Congress spokesman said.