The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday approved the proposal to extend term of party President Sonia Gandhi by one year and also decided to increase reservation for weaker sections including scheduled castes and minorities in the party from 20 per cent to 50 per cent.
In a snub to the feelers sent by the government on the reconvening of the Monsoon session of Parliament for the passage of the crucial Good and Service Tax (GST) Bill, the principal Opposition said convening special session of Parliament to pass key legislations will serve no purpose unless government takes action against Sushma Swaraj and Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as their names emerging in different controversies.
While addressing members of the party’s apex decision-making body CWC, Sonia slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of not fulfilling the poll promises and saying it has become clear that he was only indulging in “<g data-gr-id="25">hawa</g> <g data-gr-id="26">baazi</g>” (hollow promises) during the election campaign.
Talking to the reporters after the CWC meeting, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “The ruling party and the ministers under Modi’s leadership are always in an aggressive mode against the Opposition and have never tried to reach out to us. We hear on television that talks are on with the Opposition but that happens only on <g data-gr-id="30">telephone</g>.” He said Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu “did talk to me but on telephone”.
The party, however, said it will support the measure, provided government addresses the existing shortcomings in the Bill. The CWC held a detailed discussion on this key reform measure and decided to stick to at least three of its key demands on GST.
During the three-hour-long CWC meeting, former Union ministers P Chidambaram and Anand Sharma made a detailed briefing on the GST Bill amidst renewed efforts by the government to take the Congress on board for passing the key reform measure.
The NDA has planned to roll out the GST from April next year. The CWC has also condemned the “confrontationist” mindset of the government and its refusal to have any constructive engagement with the Opposition that it allegedly has undermined Parliamentary democracy.
On the other hand, the ruling party had made it clear that asking for <g data-gr-id="34">resignation</g> of its senior leaders could not be a part of negotiations for the functioning of Parliament. The stand taken by both the parties on the matter had witnessed a complete washout of the Monsoon session of Parliament.