Attacking Congress for using its numbers to "paralyse" Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today backed the "campaign" for "redefining" its role as the two Houses are "pulling in different directions".
Holding that the country is "disappointed" with the functioning of Parliament, Naidu accused the Congress of "cheating the people" by not allowing the government to do "what is expected of it".
"This session has been a victim of a strategy conceived before its commencement which was to see that Parliament was paralysed come what may. Since the monsoon session, which was a near washout, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have been pulling in different directions, which is a matter of serious concern.
"This only justifies the campaign of some people that has already begun in some degree for redefining the role of the Rajya Sabha...The country is disappointed at the manner in which Parliament has functioned," Naidu told the media after both Houses adjourned sine die.
The Modi government's legislative agenda has suffered a serious setback due to lack of support from the numerically stronger Congress-led opposition in the House. This had prompted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to raise the question of how an "unelected" house could overrule the mandate of the "elected" house.
While the productivity of the Lok Sabha was 100.46 per cent during the Winter session, that of the Rajya Sabha was only 46 per cent, that too after it passed a number of bills in the last three days without much discussion which, Naidu said, was not a "healthy" trend.
Congress was looking for lame excuses to paralyse Parliament on a day to day basis, he alleged, accusing it being "intolerant" towards the mandate of the people.
Spirited citizenry should be concerned about it and there should be debate, he said.
"Congress may think that it has gained from paralysing Rajya Sabha and disrupting the proceedings in the Lok Sabha but the people and country have lost in the process. Paralysing Parliament for having lost in the last year's General Election is a clear case of vendetta against people," he said.
Congress does not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to succeed because he will be a threat to them in future too, he added.
Naidu said the government wanted to bring new reforms and
"total transformation" in the system but Congress was stalling its agenda.
He cited the comments of the Chairs in both the Houses to buttress his charge against Congress. While the Chair in the Lok Sabha called the obstructions as the "tyranny of the minority", in the Rajya Sabha the Presiding Officer said "a few members taking the House to ransom which is not acceptable".
Naidu said Congress agreed for the passage of a few bills in the last three days due to "fear of public opinion", and referred to its support to the Juvenile bill, noting it happened because of the atmosphere outside.
The contentious GST bill was a major casualty of the impasse in Parliament with Naidu saying Congress refused to back it despite the government "addressing" all three points raised by it.
Government will continue to consult parties for its passage later, he said.
Referring to the opposition's protests over Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's alleged role in the DDCA affairs, he said it was a "joke on democracy that Parliament was disrupted over claims of something that happened in 2013."
Defending Jaitley, he said accusing him of corruption was like "spitting at Sun". "There are no takers (for such allegations)," he said.
Asked that BJP had forced washout in Parliament when it was in opposition, he said issues were different but added both BJP and Congress should learn from the past.
"As a Parliamentary Affairs Minister, I feel disgusted at what is happening," Naidu said.
