New Delhi: With Congress continuing to gun for Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje for helping controversial former IPL boss Lalit Modi, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took to cricket parlance to hit back, saying the opposition party was on a "slippery pitch" and should eschew "hit and run" tactics.
Naqvi, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said a "confused Congress" was making new allegations every hour, making it difficult for the government and people to understand what it really wants. "The Congress party, when it was in power, used to get hit wicket everyday. Now in opposition, it is bowling no balls.
They should understand that when the pitch is slippery, it is better to wait and watch then play. They need some net practice to play the role of a constructive and effective opposition," Naqvi said. He was asked to comment on External Affairs Minister Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje extending help to Lalit Modi in securing travel documents in the UK.
Extending his cricket analogy, Naqvi said the Congress will understand the role of a constructive opposition after 4-6 years of net practice. "One day the party will bring a paper saying it is a document related to a palace and on another some other paper saying it is (Lalit) Modi's and then another. They should decide that what it is on which that they want to speak against the government," he said. "Are they making an allegation or is it 'chunchu ka murabba (hotch-potch)', it is not clear," Naqvi said.
"Hit, run and then take up another issue. When the opposition is itself confused, then how do we reply?" he added. When the BJP was in opposition, Naqvi said, it raised 2G spectrum issue, irregularities in coal block allocations and Commonwealth Games which were based on CAG reports or had arisen from court orders.
The Minister, however, hoped the government would be able to enlist the support of opposition in the Parliament for passage of key legislations, including the contentious land bill. "Our political fight can continue on the street, but not on issues related to national interest. Now there are several very important bills like Delhi High Court Bill, bills related to judicial reforms. There is Railway Bill, Lokpal-Lokayukta Bill, the bill on benami transactions and also the Land Bill," he said.
Claiming that BJP never let politics overshadow developmental activities, Naqvi said the party had assured that even if it is at midnight, the Lokpal Bill should be passed. The Congress had at that time played a dubious role, he claimed.
Naqvi said his party was willing to pass the Women's Reservation Bill but Congress' allies themselves tore the copies of the legislation and it could not stop them. The Congress, he alleged, was doing quite the opposite. "Take GST, it is of their time and we have not made any change. But they are saying we will not let it pass. Now they have created so much confusion on the Land Bill as if it is for the capitalists even when not even half-an-inch of land will be acquired for any industrialist or business house under this Bill," he said.
Naqvi described as "arrogance" the Congress's threat of disrupting Parliament if Swaraj and Raje did not resign, saying the government was ready to discuss issues. Asked if the government was ready to hold a discussion on the controversy over Swaraj and Raje's links with Lalit Modi, Naqvi said, "There are rules and systems in Parliament under which issues can be discussed. Not everything that is discussed on the street can be discussed in Parliament."
Naqvi felt the demand for Swaraj and Raje's resignations was unjustified. About reports that the land bill may not be brought before Parliament ahead of the Bihar elections, Naqvi said the matter was with a joint parliamentary committee and its report was awaited. When asked why his party had not declared its chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar Assembly elections, Naqvi said nobody was projected as future CM in elections to Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections.
On the alliance between Lalu Prasad's RJD and JD(U), he said they had united on the "negative agenda" of stopping BJP's forward march under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and so would be at a disadvantage. Responding to a question on the leadership or Rahul Gandhi, he said Congress vice president's speeches and dialogue had failed to impress even his own partymen.
Naqvi said Congress was unable to think beyond the dynasty. Naqvi deprecated editing of a Wikipedia page from a computer with a government IP address to show that Jawaharlal Nehru was of Muslim lineage. "Nehru ji is respected by all but Congress should not bring politics into it," he said.
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