NDA MPs launch counter-offensive, hold protest against Congress

Led by BJP, MPs of NDA staged the protest before Mahatma Gandhi's statue holding placards that read "Parliament should function"

Seeking to counter the opposition that has stalled Parliament, NDA MPs today staged a protest in Parliament complex against the alleged corruption in Congress-ruled states.

Led by BJP, MPs of NDA including those of Akali Dal, TDP and PDP staged the protest before Mahatma Gandhi's statue holding placards that read "Parliament should function".

Launching a counter-offensive against the Congress, the protesting NDA MPs demanded resignations of Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for their role in alleged scams.

The MPs were carrying placards that read "Shame Shame. Scams and scams in Congress states" and also questioned the silence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on scams in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka.

The MPs demanded that Congress should let Parliament function smoothly and discuss any issues they wanted.The protesting MPs also demanded resignation of Uttarakhand chief minister over the alleged liquor licence scam.

Parliament has not been able to transact any business for the fourth day today as deadlock prevailed between the Opposition and the ruling side over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Government is coming forward for discussions but the opposition is not ready to discuss anything. We are, therefore, standing in front of the Gandhi statue here to show the public that the opposition is not discussing."

She said she was ready to answer to questions in Parliament but the opposition was not allowing us to answer and was only creating obstacles.

Party leader Avinash Rai Khanna said, "We want that Parliament should be allowed to function. We also highlighted the Congress double-standards over corruption as its leaders are silent on corruption by their own leaders".

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Congress only wanted disruption and not a discussion".