Irresponsible Opposition wilfully stalling Parliament, says Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday accused the Opposition of willfully stalling Parliament with its ”irresponsible” comments and ”unfounded” allegations to mislead the country amid global recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Goyal, joined by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, accused the Opposition of repeatedly insulting Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar by refusing to even meet him.

Even on Tuesday, some parties including the Congress did not attend the meeting called by him. Though they were present in the meeting called by Speaker Om Birla, he alleged.

The Congress hit back at Goyal, saying this accusation is coming from the Leader of the House who got his MPs to prevent Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from speaking twice after the Chairman had permitted him. ”Piyush Goyal is accusing Oppn of boycotting meeting called by Chairman RS. This is from the Leader of the House who got his MPs to prevent LoP Kharge ji from speaking twice after Chairman had permitted him. Silencing of LoP is also an issue quite apart from the JPC on Adani,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

In another tweet, Ramesh said, ”How can the Oppn demand for a JPC into the PM-linked Adani scam be linked to the BJP’s demand for an apology from Rahul Gandhi on totally baseless accusations. The JPC is on a real, documented scam. The apology demand is a hoax being raised to divert attention from the Adani scam.” Ramesh said this morning Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Kharge was given permission by the Chairman to speak and got up to do so but was not allowed by sloganeering BJP MPs. ”Chairman then adjourned RS. How can the logjam be broken if Modi Government behaves like this,” he said.

Goyal told reporters that at a time when the Union budget has drawn all-round praise, Modi is being recognised as the most popular leader in the world and the BJP has won polls in northeast states, opposition parties, especially the Congress and its allies, are trying to mislead the country.

His attack on the Opposition came after a Business Advisory Committee meeting called by the Rajya Sabha chairperson and an all party meeting called by Lok Sabha speaker failed to offer any breakthrough in breaking the continuing impasse in Parliament’s budget session.

With Opposition members protesting from the first floor of Parliament complex, Goyal said they were resorting to petty tactics to remain in headlines as they lacked any solid argument. (PTI)