The Congress on Friday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being "intoxicated" with power and held the government responsible for the parliamentary logjam witnessed during the just-concluded monsoon session.
"During the just-concluded monsoon session, the BJP government was fully exposed. Though the BJP has the mandate of the people, yet the performance of this government compels one to gather the impression that it might be a good opposition. It has proved itself to be the worst government," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said at a press conference here.
Asserting it was evident that the BJP does not believe in democracy, he said: "The party is intoxicated with power."
No major legislative business could be transacted in either house of the parliament since July 21 when parliament convened till August 13, when it adjourned sine die.
Azad said: "The floor management was pathetic and coordination with opposition parties completely missing".
"BJP government perhaps thinks that decisive electoral mandate automatically authorizes it to brazenly ignore the opposition and forget the niceties and decencies of parliamentary democracy. That is why it seems to bulldoze the parliament and brazen out most defiantly, notwithstanding the outrage and uneasiness in the country," he added.
Also Read
The Congress leader said that so far it was amply clear that the BJP government was more focused on defaming, maligning and ridiculing the opposition and to achieve this end, it uses all means and forums.
Asked about the BJP's announcement to send a minister each for four Congress MPs to counter the party at the grassroot level, Azad said: "The ministers have been elected to govern and not just counter the opposition. This shows the vengeful attitude of the government."
Azad also ridiculed the save democracy march held by the National Democratic Alliance on Thursday, saying the ruling party was trying to mislead the people of the country.
"It is no secret that the BJP does not believe in democracy and democratic traditions. Rather, it owes its origin to a fascist philosophy and anti-democratic mindset," he said.
Congress leader of the house in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress decided to walkout when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was giving a reply to the adjournment motion on the Lalit Modi issue as they (Congress MPs) were sure of not being given a chance to explain their position.
He said that from day one, the Congress was insisting it wanted an adjournment motion. "But they kept postponing it. At last when the government put pressure on the speaker, she agreed."
"They themselves wanted the house not to function, that is why they did not agree to the discussion for four weeks," Kharge said.