The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the Congress and other Opposition parties are holding the development of the country hostage and being selfish by disrupting Parliament. It also accused the Congress of using the National Herald case to harm national interest, PTI reported. The Congress has disrupted the Parliament proceedings for the last one week after senior Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were accused in the case.

After a meeting of its Parliamentary party, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the BJP has asked its members in both Houses to be present for the remainder of the Winter session, as the party still hopes to push through some bills.

Naqvi also announced that a series of programmes will be launched in every Lok Sabha constituency on January 12 for youth empowerment. He said it was also decided at the BJP meet that the party MPs would each donate Rs 10,000 for relief work in the flood-affected Tamil Nadu.