Sonia calls on Congress to fight back

New Delhi: Democracy hit a new low as the brewing tension between the ruling Congress party and its arch-rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spilled out in the open yesterday (Tuesday) resulting in a war of words.

At the receiving end over the alleged Rs1.86 trillion coal-gate scam which resulted in parliament remaining paralysed for the sixth consecutive day yesterday, the Congress party launched a full-scale attack on the BJP. It followed its president Sonia Gandhi’s call to her party lawmakers to fight back at its parliamentary party meeting earlier in the day.

“We need to fight the intemperate criticism and negative politics of BJP. It is holding parliament to ransom. I condemn the words being used by the leader of the Opposition. We must effectively go out and rebut and repel them in the upcoming elections. We are prepared for a debate. The BJP has no respect for democracy. Blackmail has become its political bread and butter. Their belief is our way or no way,” Sonia was quoted as having said at the meeting.

Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had on Monday said while the national exchequer faced a loss of Rs 1.86 trillion through allocation of 142 coal blocks by the government, the Congress party benefited as its coffers swelled.

“We have nothing to be defensive about...let us stand up and fight, fight with a sense of purpose and fight aggressively.” Sonia was quoted as having said in her address to the parliamentary party.

Taking the cue, Congress leaders took the BJP head-on. Congress party spokesman Manish Tewari accused the BJP ofshedding crocodile tears over the sanctity of constitutional bodies like the Comptroller and Auditor General which estimated the quantum of coal-gate scam to the tune of Rs1.86 trillion. Tewari announced that hundreds of thousands of Congress workers would soon hit the streets to expose the BJP.

Apparently Sonia took offence at the language used first by veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani who had earlier this month termed the Manmohan Singh government as illegal while participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj accusing the Congress party of making big bucks in the coal block allocation scam.

BJP hit back at the Congress party saying it was Sonia and her Congress party which started using foul language in the first place. “We don’t need lessons from Sonia. She was the one to use the term ‘maut ka saudagar’ (merchant of death) for (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi. Was it parliamentary or civil on her part?” asked BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu was quick to recall that after the coffin-gate scam following the 1999 Kargil War between India and Pakistan, it was Congress party members who had called the then defence minister George Fernandes a coffin chor (thief).

“Congress should stop its doublespeak. Why didn’t Sonia find those comments of Congress leaders undemocratic where they called Fernandes ‘coffin chor’?” Naidu asked. The coffin chor tag was given to Fernandes after it came to light that coffins for killed soldiers were produced by the defence ministry at a highly escalated price, though Fernandes himself was not found responsible for it. The Congress party initially did not let him speak in parliament and later would walk out as soon as Fernandes rose to speak till the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was voted out of power in 2004.

There are indications that the monsoon session of parliament scheduled to end on September 7 may be a total washout as the BJP is clear that it will not let the parliament function until its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the minister in-charge when coal blocks were allocated, resigns. The Congress party has already ruled out such a possibility.