Congress ensures stalling of both Houses

The Congress party was on Wednesday pleased with having managed a washout of proceedings in both the Lok Sabha, where its presence is a mere 44 members, and in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority. Its members stormed the well in both houses, demanding resignations of a Union minister and two chief ministers before any discussion could even be taken up on the said 'ModiGate' and 'Vyapam' scams. It was joined only by the Left parties in the lower house but managed support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal and Left in the upper house. All party MPs, including Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, wore black bands in a symbol of protest against the government. Party chief Sonia Gandhi had a strategy meeting with Lok Sabha members and floor managers to ensure relentless pressure on the government. However despite the party claims of the opposition being united in both houses, Samajwadi Party head Mulayam Singh Yadav made it clear they are not demanding external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's resignation. They were demanding the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh chief ministers must go.On Tuesday, it had asked for discussion in the Rajya Sabha but on Wednesday, deputy head of the opposition, Anand Sharma, on behalf of the Congress said there had to be resignations before any discussion. "The party is not afraid to discuss any issue," spokesman Gaurav Gogoi told reporters in reply to questions in connection with the alleged scams in water projects in Congress-run Assam and Goa, and the Bharatiya Janata Party charges of corruption against Uttarkhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.