New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The Congress Thursday attacked the Opposition, particularly Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for stalling Parliament on the issue of price rise, saying the attempt was actually to cover up the ‘skeletons in its cupboard’ in Karnataka and Gujarat.
‘This is unfortunate, unfair, unjustified. These are tactics to divert attention from Reddys and Shahs of the opposition. It is an attempt to cover up skeletons tumbling from opposition cupboard, be it Karnataka or Gujarat,’ Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
He said that the Congress was no less concerned than the opposition about price rise and wanted a discussion.
‘The gameplan of the main opposition which wants to unite with the Left is to disrupt for the sake of disruption,’ he said.
Referring to the ruling by the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Wednesday disallowing the adjournment motion on price rise and the insistence of the opposition to discuss the issue under a rule which entails voting, Singhvi said the ruling of the chair is final and binding.
‘When the chair gives a ruling, how can any party disrupt proceedings merely because it disagrees. This means a party has veto power?’ he asked.
Singhvi also attacked the Left for joining hands with the BJP on the issue of price rise, terming the unity ‘opportunistic and based on expediency’.
Asked if the Left had come closer to BJP after elevation of Prakash Karat as Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary, Singhvi said he was not taking any names but agreed with the spirit of the question. ‘There is direct, unqualified concerted action… the artificial sparring fools no one and exposes both the groups,’ he said.
To queries about the government’s reluctance to agree to discussion on price rise under a rule that entails voting, Singhvi said that it was for the chair to decide under which rule a discussion will take place.
‘They (the opposition parties) are indulging in political sensationalism,’ he said.
The two houses of Parliament were adjourned Thursday, the third working day of the monsoon session which began Monday, following the opposition’s insistence on discussion price rise under a provision that entails voting.
