Congress, BJP deal in sight by Monday
24 Aug 2012 7:52 AM IST
Despite the opposition stalling the functioning of both houses of Parliament for the third consecutive day on Thursday, the Congress refused to yield. According to highly placed sources in the Congress, the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde conveyed to the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj that the government would continue to play tough.
The Congress sources said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been sending strong signals to the ruling alliance to initiate a meeting between Swaraj and the prime minister, which could finally bring an end to the ongoing impasse. The Congress expects that after this meeting on Monday, there is likely to be an end to the slugfest in Parliament.
After meeting Swaraj, Shinde told reporters, 'I hope that by Monday the matter will be resolved.... I am trying to settle it by [Friday].' The Congress sources said that Shinde conveyed to Swaraj that if the BJP MPs quit – as if being reported in the media – even then the government would remain firm and not give in to their demand for the prime minister's resignation.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, who is in the city to attend a UPA meeting and also meet the prime minister, told reporters that the government could take the initiative and call an all-party meeting to end the stand-off. Earlier in the day the BJP did not attend an all-party meeting convened by the Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar to break the logjam in the house. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day, as the opposition made vociferous demands for the prime minister's resignation.
Gauging the unrelenting mood of the opposition, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi told a group of Congress MPs on Thursday not to be defensive on the CAG report and in fact asked them to aggressively counter the offensive launched by the BJP.
Meanwhile, the Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi criticised the BJP and called its demand 'condemnable'. Parliament is a forum to have debates on issues and discussion should go on in the house instead of BJP causing disruptions, she said.
The Congress sources said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been sending strong signals to the ruling alliance to initiate a meeting between Swaraj and the prime minister, which could finally bring an end to the ongoing impasse. The Congress expects that after this meeting on Monday, there is likely to be an end to the slugfest in Parliament.
After meeting Swaraj, Shinde told reporters, 'I hope that by Monday the matter will be resolved.... I am trying to settle it by [Friday].' The Congress sources said that Shinde conveyed to Swaraj that if the BJP MPs quit – as if being reported in the media – even then the government would remain firm and not give in to their demand for the prime minister's resignation.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, who is in the city to attend a UPA meeting and also meet the prime minister, told reporters that the government could take the initiative and call an all-party meeting to end the stand-off. Earlier in the day the BJP did not attend an all-party meeting convened by the Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar to break the logjam in the house. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day, as the opposition made vociferous demands for the prime minister's resignation.
Gauging the unrelenting mood of the opposition, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi told a group of Congress MPs on Thursday not to be defensive on the CAG report and in fact asked them to aggressively counter the offensive launched by the BJP.
Meanwhile, the Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi criticised the BJP and called its demand 'condemnable'. Parliament is a forum to have debates on issues and discussion should go on in the house instead of BJP causing disruptions, she said.
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