Congress dubs BJP fast farcical

Bengalur : Slamming the “farcical” fast by the BJP against Parliament’s disruption, the Congress on Thursday said the ruling party was enacting an absurd drama of photo-ops and headline management.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its President Amit Shah, are enacting an absurd drama. The fast is a lame excuse for the non-functioning of Parliament,” Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.

Accusing the Modi government of denigrating Parliament by obstructing its functioning when it was in opposition till May 2014, Surjewala said the BJP should apologise for engineering disruptions and dishonouring democracy.

“The BJP disrupted Parliament through proxy allies, engineered deafening din and noise and did not permit the no-confidence motions to be deliberated upon or voted,” said Surjewala.

The BJP, however, blamed the Congress-led opposition parties for disrupting Parliament’s second part of the Budget Session from March 5 to April 6.

“For a party which disrupted 67 per cent of the functioning time of the previous Lok Sabha (2009-14) and wasted 250 hours of the Budget Session, the remorse for failing India can only be through a ‘penance upvaas’ (fasting),” said Surjewala.

Claiming that Modi lost credibility and that his words had no value, the Congress leader said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre had no accountability and had lost direction and purpose.

“Modi and Shah came to power riding a ‘jumla’ boat of fake promises. The boat has its underbelly and the rats are jumping ship!” said Surjewala.

The BJP refused to answer in Parliament how the jewellers accused in Rs 13,540-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case — Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi — were allowed to flee the country and on the other bank frauds, Surjewala said.

IANS