What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday slammed the Central government for the adjournment of the Budget session of Parliament ahead of its schedule, accusing it of running away from discussion on inflation and price rise despite being demanded by combined Opposition.
The Congress party said that the government had allocated time for a discussion on price rise during the meeting of the business advisory committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha and for crucial bills in the BAC meeting of the Rajya Sabha, and accused the government of resorting to “breach of commitment”.
Addressing a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Parliament has been closed two days before even though they gave the agenda for up to Friday. We feel that the government is not keen to resolve the problems of the poor, unemployed and farmers.”
“The government is not ready for a discussion and ended Parliament session two days ahead of schedule,” Kharge added.
He said that prices of LPG, petrol, diesel, kerosene and others essential items were being increased every day since conclusion of assembly elections.
The government reduced the prices of fuel before Diwali, but increased the prices of fuel after winning in four states in the recently-held assembly elections, he said.
The senior Congress leader said that petrol and diesel prices have been increased by Rs 10 while LPG prices were increased by Rs 50, he said, adding that price of CNG was raised by Rs 2.50 on Thursday.
“We can only feel that the government is not ready to listen to us on issues of inflation, unemployment, farmers and others. Overall, the government is not ready to discuss these issues,” Kharge added.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also charged the Centre, saying, “It is a breach of the commitment made by the government by not allowing a discussion on price rise after allocating time for it in the BAC.”
“The credibility index of the government is under question,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh said the BAC in the Upper House allotted time for many bills and the opposition was ready for them.
“But, we came to know on Wednesday that the House would be adjourned sine die,” he said, adding that the government had allocated two hour time to discuss the Weapons of Mass Destruction Bill in the Rajya Sabha, and three hour time for Antarctica Treaty.
The senior Congress leader said: “This is government’s failure, they don’t have any agenda. They couldn’t bring bills despite allotting time.”
Slamming the government, Ramesh said, “The government is running away from a discussion on price rise as all Opposition parties wanted a discussion, but the government did not. We also wanted a discussion on the agreement between the government with farmers’ bodies, but the government wanted to avoid it. Two days were wasted as the government adjourned the House. It is a failure of the government,” the Congress leader said.
Ramesh also said the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal was “missing” from the House during the session.
“We have seen Arun Jaitley and Thawar Chand Gehlot, who were both leaders of the House, and always used to be present. It is the responsibility of the Leader of the House to be present. It is for the first time I have seen that the Leader of the House is missing. The prime minister may have come four-five times ever since the House sat for this session,” he said.
He also said, “It was wrong to get the Criminal Procedure Code Bill without bringing the DNA regulation Bill and Data Privacy Bill”.
Kharge also said that the Congress will keep on raising the issues of the inflation and other important issues on streets as well in the House.
