Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) With parliament rendered non-functional due to repeated disruptions for the third consecutive day, the Congress Thursday blamed the impasse on the differences between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Left parties on priority for debating either illegal money or price rise.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned without transacting much business.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told a regular media briefing here at Parliament House that the government was ready to debate both the issues and had listed the notice for an adjournment over black money issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA for discussion, but the Left wanted price rise and inflation debated first and hence the house proceedings were disrupted.

“The government had walked the extra mile and was willing to debate both the issues. But there were differences between the BJP and the Left parties on which issue should take priority,” Tewari said.

He said political parties and individuals had a right to protest in a democracy, but nobody has a right to disrupt proceedings of parliament. “Such disruptions bring into question the legitimacy of parliament,” he said.

Asked why his own party MPs were disrupting the house, raising the Telangana statehood demand, Tewari said the Congress said it was not correct on their part to do so.

On Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj’s contention that the Congress had triggered the disruption through its MPs from Telangana, Tewari claimed that her statement did not reflect the right picture.

“The lack of coordination between the BJP and the Left parties was visible in the house,” he said, but added that since price rise had been debated by the house on several occasions earlier, it was accepted by the government to debate illegal money issue first.

“The price rise and inflation are issues that concern not just the central government but also the state governments and hence, it is not right to have a debate on the subject that entailed voting in parliament,” he argued.

Tewari said parliament had a lot of legislative business that needed the MPs’ collective wisdom. Hence, he appealed to all political parties to rise above their differences and to ensure smooth functioning of parliament.