 "Sonia Gandhi")
The Congress said the luncheon meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday was the “first meeting” between Opposition leaders and the government in the last 18 months, ever since the National Democratic Alliance came to power at the Centre.
On the contentious goods and services tax (GST) Bill, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said, “There shouldn’t be obsession over passage of GST. There are other important Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha. Engagement between the Opposition and the government can’t be linked to one issue.”
The finance minister had accused the Congress of scuttling the winter session of Parliament by constantly changing their reasons for disrupting the Houses. Sharma said, “They are creating issues, which are adding up; we are not changing reasons. What is the Opposition expected to do? Applaud the Prime Minister for insulting our Congress chief ministers, sit silent when atrocities are committed against Dalits in the BJP-ruled states or when the PM fails to control the obnoxious motormouths in his party?”
The Congress even justified the disruption of the Rajya Sabha over alleged atrocities against Dalits in Punjab. Sharma stated the Upper House being the Council of States, such issues had to be raised there. The party was joined by the Left in its protest against the “insult” to the Kerala CM Oommen Chandy who was asked not to be present at an event where the Prime Minister would be unveiling the statue of former Congress CM R Sankar by the organisers of the event.
The Congress is adopting a two-pronged strategy: while on the one hand, it continues to attack the government and stall House proceedings, citing violations of the principle of cooperative federalism, on the other, it would “seem” to engage with the government on GST while sticking to its demands on the Bill.
