The government said today that it will call Parliament's winter session in December, with the BJP rejecting the Congress charge of avoiding convening the session as a "chorus of baseless allegations".
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted that Assembly polls have often played a role in fixing timing of sessions, insisting that it had happened under the Congress governments, including the UPA.
The law minister's attack on the Congress came soon after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told PTI that the government will call the winter session, which generally starts from November's third week, in December and will announce its dates soon.
Kumar said that the opposition party is suffering from "selective amnesia" as in 2008 and 2013 also the winter session was held in December.
Addressing a press conference, Prasad said it has been an "established tradition" to schedule session so that its timing does not clash with state polls.
It had also happened when Indira Gandhi and Chandra Shekhar were prime ministers, he said, adding that the session had started twice after Christmas.
The Congress was already looking for an excuse for its impending defeat in the state polls, he claimed.
Prasad, however, parried a query on when the government will call this year's winter session, saying it is for the parliamentary affairs ministry to decide on the dates.
Citing the Constitution, he said the gap between two sessions can be up to six months and noted that the monsoon session had ended in August.
Hitting back at Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge over his comments that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "Brahma, the creator", who controls everything and alone knows when the winter session will be convened, Prasad said Modi is a "pradhan sevak" (prime servant).
Kharge, he said, should answer who was the "destroyer" of democracy in India, referring to the Emergency promulgated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The Congress had today claimed that the government was not convening the winter session in view of the Gujarat polls as it did not want to face the opposition, which is keen to raise issues such as "scams" of ministers, Rafale deal, GST and the note ban.
Taking a swipe, Prasad said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issues in his campaign in Gujarat and had done so during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls too but lost badly while the BJP won three-fourth of seats.
"The accusations of Congress leaders were a chorus of baseless allegations," he said.
Defending the delay in the convening of the session in the view of the Gujarat polls, he said leaders are busy in campaigning and added wryly that the government will consider Congress' request if it promises that it leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, will attend it diligently.
Rahul Gandhi's attendance during the current Lok Sabha is only 54 per cent and was 43 per cent in the last Lok Sabha, Prasad said.
"You can have attendance by signing register. I leave it to wisdom of journalists to find out how much time he spends in the House," he said.
The Congress' love for Parliament's dignity is a pleasant surprise, Prasad said in a jibe, accusing the party of running away from debates on the GST and demonetisation by stalling Parliament or walking out of it.
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