Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘headline grabber’ while reiterating her party’s stand that no productive discussions or meaningful proceedings would be allowed in Parliament as long as those in BJP responsible for wrong-doing remain in office.
While speaking to reporters, Gandhi said, “the PM has turned out to be a master re-packager, a skillful salesman, a sharp headline grabber and a clever news manager.”
Ever since the beginning of the Monsoon Session, there has been a virtual washout of Parliament proceedings with the Opposition refusing to budge on its demand for resignation of three top BJP leaders over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues, including Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje.
Gandhi also went on to say on Monday that there was a mountain of incontrovertible evidence in public domain for PM to require resignations of EAM and the two CMs.
“Parliamentary majority does not give anyone a license to escape accountability. The ‘Mann ki baat’ man appears to retreat into a ‘Maun Vrat’ whenever there is a scandal involving his colleagues,” Gandhi added.
On Monday, the Congress panel met to discuss their stand on the Parliament logjam even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu hinted that he was willing to speak on issues. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said after his party’s meet that their stand was clear, “the way corruption has happened, we want resignations.”
The PM himself had met senior cabinet ministers in the morning and an all-party meeting to resolve issues is also scheduled for noon.
Over Rs 2.5 lakhs is being lost every minute as a result of the Parliament logjam and a total washout of the Monsoon session could mean a cost of Rs 162 crores to the exchequer.