Congress disrupts Parliament proceedings again as session heads towards washout
Opposition leaders entered the Rajya Sabha Well, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment Bill) got passed.
Opposition parties disrupted Rajya Sabha proceedings for the fourth straight day on Friday as they continued their protest against what the Congress has called the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “vendetta politics”. As Chairman Hamid Ansari completed his opening adresss, Congress members entered the Well of the House, shouting slogans that said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a dictator like Hitler. The parties have been up in arms after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy raked up the National Herald case, making allegations against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.
On Friday, Congress member Bhaskar Rapolu refused to begin reading the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on energy, despite the deputy chairman’s repeated entreaties. However, a resolution referring The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to a Select Committee of the House was passed amid the chaos, PTI reported.
In the Lok Sabha, too, the Congress and other opposition parties staged a walk out demanding an apology from a BJP member for "derogatory" remarks against Congress leaders. The Congress has repeatedly disrupted Parliament during the ongoing winter session, drawing a sharp response from Modi. On Thursday, Modi said "democracy cannot function on the whims of others". On Friday, Sonia Gandhi reacted to this saying: "Let him say what he wants".