'No Gaga over RaGa Fight'

BJP terms Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi a late entrant in the anti-corruption bandwagon

A day after the 15th Lok Sabha came to an end, the BJP attacked the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi terming him a ‘late entrant’ to push the anti-corruption Bills in the House. The BJP also mounted attack on the UPA saying many of the Bills were not passed because of the ruling party’s failure and not due to the Opposition.

The BJP fielded its two leaders of the Opposition – Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely – to mount their attack on the government. “During the last five years of Parliament, the government faced serious allegations of corruption such as the 2G spectrum allocation, coal block allocation, Commonwealth Game, VVIP Agusta Helicopter deal that eroded the credibility of the government,” the two leaders said in a joint statement.

If Jaitley criticised Rahul’s push to the anti-corruption Bills saying he never spoke during the last 10 years. “He is a late entrant in the anti-corruption bandwagon. He never spoke on corruption in the last 10 years. But now he says corruption is our issue.”

Swaraj was even more caustic. “He was not even ‘genuine’ in his efforts. “Sau chuhe kha ke billi haj ko chali (after eating 100 rats, a cat goes to pilgrimage),” she said while taking a dig at Rahul pointing to several scams during the UPA’s tenure.

Both the leaders dismissed questions on support to Rahul’s push to anti-graft law as the UPA might bring in these legislation through ordinance. “There is no question of supporting or opposing the Ordinances... now there will be no session. If we come to power, we will make changes in the measures,” Sushma said.

Dismissing suggestion that it was the Opposition which stalled the House, Sushma said, “Ruling party MPs created hurdles (in functioning of Parliament)...the Congress has lost control over its ministers and MPs.”

Talking about the just concluded Parliament session, Sushma added, “We look back on the last five years with a mixed feeling. The last five years showed a disturbed Parliament, on the other hand, some of the most outstanding debates took place and some longstanding legislations were approved.”

“The BJP has a sense of satisfaction that we contributed to some very important debates on the economy, federalism, national security and corruption. The party supported several legislations such as the Food Bill, the Land Bill, the Lokpal Bill and the Telangana Bill.”

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The New Indian Express
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