NEW DELHI: When Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh makes a statement in Parliament on the Gurdaspur terror encounter, there’s hope of a little respite from the rancour-filled demonstrations on various issues inside and outside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Not on Monday, though. Even after a week of washed out Monsoon session, the stand-off between the Opposition and the Government continued unabated. If the Congress protested, sticking to demand for resignation of BJP Ministers, TMC protested to get the Land Acquisition Bill scrapped, the TRS on the demand of separate High Court for Telangana. The gunshots from Punjab bearing ominous intimation of revival of terrorism puncturing nearly two decades of peace, could not really silence the political warriors in Parliament. They remained in opposition to government. So, no let-up in the slugfest. The Congress, the CPM, the CPI, the JD(U), the SP and the NCP stuck to their guns, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two BJP CMs, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan must resign, on Lalitgate and Vyapam scams. Non-bailable warrant against Lalit Modi issued by the ED, could not douse the Opposition fire. But what looked like a damage control effort, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s statement “unequivocally condemning’’ the terror strike in Gurdaspur, Punjab, was SMSed to the media. It seems, party VP Rahul Gandhi on the advice of younger MPs refused to rollback the political fight with the government, but the old guard was uncomfortable. Congress chief Sonia and LoP, Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, thus issued written statements condemning the terror strike. However, like Congress party’s Leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, they expressed “grave concern over the trend of separatist terror”.
Explain FB post, LS tells Vadra
The LS Secretariat has sought explanation from Robert Vadra over his remarks on a social networking site that led to a row in the LS last week with BJP MP Prahlad Joshi moving a privilege motion against the son in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Vadra, in his FB post on July 21, had taken a dig at the BJP-led NDA Government, without naming it, before the Monsoon session began.