Time and distance does not waver Finance Minister and Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee when it comes to launching an attack on the Opposition.
While addressing a gathering in poll-bound Assam earlier this week, Mukherjee reminded the poeple about the disruptions during the monsoon session of Parliament (eight months since it ended in August 2010) asking them not to vote for a party that wasted precious hours in Parliament.
Mukherjee was in Silchar, the biggest town of Assam’s Barak valley, said: “People should ask the BJP, why they are seeking votes? To shout slogans in Parliament and the state assembly? You can hit the roads or gather in fields to shout slogans. Legislative houses are not the places for shouting slogans or disrupting proceedings. MLAs and MPs are elected to serve the people, to raise their issues in the Houses and not obstruct its functioning.”
While the washout of the entire session and the subsequent nod of a reluctant government for a JPC into the 2G scam remains a scar for the UPA brass, the immediate provocations seemed to be the presence of BJP heavyweights in the state. BJP President Nitin Gadkari joined Leaders of Opposition Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on the day Mukherjee was addressing the assemblage.
“I am serving Parliament for the last 40 years. But I have never seen such things that are happening in the past few years,” the veteran politician said while addressing a massive gathering at Hojai, a Muslim dominated area.
Earlier, braving the unexpected rains, Mukherjee stood on a charpai at Udharband’s market corner and tried to explain the villagers Parliamentary democracy in simple language: “They wanted a JPC to probe the 2G telecom issue. I told them, a JPC is already there in form of a Public Accounts Committee. That too, headed by an opposition leader. But they didn’t listen and insisted their demand be accepted.”
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“You must have read the story that two mothers were fighting for the custody of an infant. The king ordered the baby to be cut into two pieces and give each part to two mothers. The genuine mother broke down and said, let the other woman take away the baby. At least my child would survive. We, too, accepted their demand to keep Parliamentary democracy alive,” Mukherjee told a packed audience in another meeting at Naogaon.
While Mukherjee is busy firing salvoes at the BJP over the Parliament impasse, Sushma Swaraj feels the disappointment of the people with the UPA will yield good results for the BJP in the state.
“The atmosphere here is very favourable for the BJP due to three factors — there is a strong anti-incumbency feeling against the present state government, utter disappointment with the Congress-led government at the Centre and positive feelings for the BJP.” Swaraj defended the role of the BJP in the centre, saying: “The people relate to the issues raised by the BJP.”