NEW DELHI: Congress should end "tit for tat" approach and allow the Parliament to function for the remaining four sittings following the clarification by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Lalit Modi issue, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said.
Countering opposition attack over "undemocratic action" against 25 Congress MPs, the Parliamentary Affairs minister said the government was always ready to back revocation of their suspension but Congress was unwilling to return to the House.
He, however, defended the action and said the Speaker should have acted "much earlier" against the placard waving MPs, as it was her responsibility to ensure proper functioning of the House.
Responding to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's remarks calling the suspension of her party MPs a "black day", Naidu questioned, "but where were the white days during the current session?".
"Do not hurt national interest, do not obstruct the progress of the country. This is my earnest request.
"I would expect Shrimati Sonia Gandhi to seriously ponder over the issue after the clarification of Sushma ji and enable proper functioning of the Parliament for at least the remaining four sittings," he said.
The Union minister stressed that he was talking to various leaders in this regard and also spoke to senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikharjuna Kharge yesterday.
"The government was always willing to move a motion as required under the Rules of the House for revoking the suspension of the Congress Members from the Lok Sabha if only they were willing to assure the Speaker of their cooperation in smooth functioning of the House," he said, adding that the Congress was not willing to return to the House.
"An untenable situation is prevailing in Parliament. Congress is not concerned about political propriety but only keen about winning a political trophy...
"A placard waving Congress, bent on disrupting proceedings deserved suspension from the House... Speaker should have acted much earlier since it is her responsibility to ensure proper functioning of the House," Naidu said.
Swaraj said in Lok Sabha yesterday that she had not helped Lalit but his cancer-stricken wife and questioned if Sonia Gandhi would have acted differently if faced with such a situation.
"His wife has been suffering from cancer for the last 17 years and it is the 10th time it has recurred... I want to ask what Sonia Gandhi would have done had she been in my place. Would she have left her to die?" Swaraj said.