 "Lok Sabha, Logjam")
With the prospect GST Bill's passage looking dim due to unrelenting Congress protests, BJP today accused the opposition party of "holding Parliament hostage to its ego" and said it wanted the NDA dispensation to fail after having failed to do anything when it was in power.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said the sentiment driving the Congress was that "we will drown and we will have you drowned as well".
"They could not do anything when they were in power. They failed and now they want that our government also could not do anything and fail," Gadkari told reporters.
His ministerial colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi for the impasse, saying they want the BJP government to fail.
"Should Parliament be made hostage to their ego? That is the simple point. Parliament cannot become an ego battle of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," he said.
He said the main goal of the opposition party was that it did not want the GST Bill to be passed in the session, which is scheduled to end on August 13, using excuses to stall Parliament.
Prasad and Gadkari also noted that some opposition parties were also "anguished" with this behaviour of Congress and had moved away from it.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has broken ranks with Congress over the issue and said his party and some others wanted debate in Parliament.
With the government pushing for passage of the GST Bill in Parliament, BJP today issued a whip to its members, asking them to be present in both the Houses today and tomorrow.
The bill was tabled for discussion and passage in Rajya Sabha today amid the opposition uproar and the government is likely to throw its weight behind it tomorrow.
