 "Narendra Modi raps Congress mantantra")
With Thursday seeing a third day of logjam in Parliament, senior ministers indicated the government wasn't going to give in to the Congress party on passage of the goods and services tax (GST) Constitutional amendment Bill because of what they see as its armtwisting by disruptiions over the National Herald issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without a direct reference to the Congress' stalling of parliamentary proceedings, said at an event that the twin dangers to democracy in India were mantantra or rule by the whims of a few and dhantantra or rule by money power. Laying the political line for his ranks to attack the Congress, the PM said frequent disruption of Parliament was anti-poor. It stalled passage of legislation that could ease the lives of the poor.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was forthright, saying the Congress leadership was guilty of Goebbelsian propaganda, in claiming to be victims of "political vendetta" in the Herald case. In a blogpost, he explained in detail the said case, including the why of the charge that the Congress leadership was guilty of diverting Rs 90 crore of tax-exempt political funds to a Section 25 (non-profit) company whose only current source of income is from real estate.
This real estate company acquired 99 per cent of the shareholding of the former newspaper company.
Jaitley said Subramanian Swamy, as a private citizen (he's also now a Bharatiya Janata party MP), alleged breach of trust in the matter and moved court in 2012. A trial court issued summons to the Congress leaders. The Delhi high court dismisses their petition to quash the summons.
"The accused can either challenge the order in the Supreme Court or appear before the trial court and contest the case on merits," Jaitley said. He alleged the Congress leaders had created a 'chakravyuh' or maze for themselves and needed to find an exit.
"They have acquired properties worth a huge amount without spending anything. They have used tax-exempted income for a non-exempted purpose. They have transferred the income of a political party to a real estate company. They have created huge taxable income in favour of the real estate company," the minister said.
The government had yet to take any punitive action. "The enforcement directorate has not issued any notice to them. The income tax authorities will follow their own procedure," he said, adding the matter was in the courts and the Congress should fight the battle politically.
"But, the results of legal battles are always uncertain. The Congress is, therefore, crying foul and calling it political vendetta...By disrupting democracy, the financial web created by the Congress leaders cannot be undone."
In the morning, at an event hosted by the Dainik Jagran media group, the prime minister said people were only talking about whether Parliament would pass the GST bill. "But, there are several other measures for the poor that are pending in Parliament," he said.
The Congress continued to protest in both Houses of Parliament ensuring the Rajya Sabha, where it's the single largest party, was adjourned without transacting any business. Its members charged the government with "vendetta politics", while Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government was willing to "all issues".
The Congress and Trinamool Congress also staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha over "offensive" remarks on party vice-president Rahul Gandhi by a BJP member. The two parties boycotted the House's proceedings for the day after the said member, Virendra Singh, refused to apologise, although parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu said any personal remarks should be condemned. Singh had made the remarks on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha took up a discussion on the drought situation and also passed a Bill.
