The Congress today hit out at the BJP, saying it will hold the government accountable by raising various issues in Parliament and that criticising it was like mocking democracy.
The party's remarks came after the BJP accused it of conspiring to disrupt Parliament during the Monsoon Session by giving issues a "communal colour".
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed the BJP was trying to present a distorted picture of the Congress which was raising issues in Parliament and was accusing it of stalling the proceedings.
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"We challenge Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to come forward and debate with us on these issues. If it is a sin to hold the elected government accountable, then as a responsible opposition we are ready to commit this sin again and again," he said.
"We are an old party and whenever we take up any issue, we do it after thorough research. Criticising it is mocking the democracy," he said.
Surjewala said the truth was that before every Parliament session, the research department of the All India Congress Committee prepared a list of issues that affected the people of the country and that require accountability from the government.
He said in the current session the issues that the Congress wished to raise in Parliament and demand answers from government included farmers distress, unemployment, atrocities on Dalits, lynchings, problems arising from the Goods and Services Tax, "conspiracy to disable" the MGNREGA.
Besides, he said, issues like "failures" of the NDA government in education sector, lack of health facilities, "failure" of flagship schemes like Ujjwala Yojna have also been shortlisted .
"The paper that contains a list of all these issues is being presented by the BJP in a distorted manner which said that it was a conspiracy to stop the Parliament from functioning," he claimed.
Waving an alleged leaked document of the Congress containing issues to be raised by it, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "This is a dossier of disruption."
"Rather than focusing on the more relevant issue of national security, the Congress has given priority to raising incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilantism by giving them a communal colour," he told reporters here.
He said debate and discussions were always welcome but there should be a way to do it.
The BJP spokesperson said that according to this leaked plan of the Congress, the issue of national security was not a priority.
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