Congress wants tangible proposal from PM Modi before any meeting

NEW DELHI: In a blunt message to the government, Congress today said its participation in an an all-party meeting to break the two-week long deadlock in Parliament depended on a "tangible" proposal from the Prime Minister on opposition demands.

"We are not interested in mere photo-op, tea and sandwiches. The PM must first tell us what action is being taken on our demands," party's senior spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters.

His response came as government attempted to reach out to Opposition which has been disrupting proceedings in Parliament demanding resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as well as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje over Lalitgate and Vyapam controversies.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sharma said Parliament is not functioning because of his "arrogance and obduracy" as he has refused to end his "maun vrat" (vow of silence) on the issue.

Sharma insisted that Congress was not interested in a meeting for the sake of meeting and needed to be told what "action" the Prime Minister intended to take on the demands that have led to disruptions in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha since the Monsoon session began on July 21.

Squarely blaming the government for the stalemate in Parliament, Sharma, who is Deputy leader of Congress in the Rajya Sabha, said the Prime Minister has made no effort to ensure that Parliament functions efficiently.

"It is unfortunate that despite opposition demand that the PM should break his 'maun vrat', he hasn't done this so far. Parliament is not functioning because of arrogance and obduracy of the PM," he said.

Hoping that "some wisdom will dawn" on the government over the weekend, he said that if this happens, then Parliament could function smoothly.

Sharma's remarks are significant as government had planned an all party meeting earlier in the day but it was postponed after the Congress had reportedly expressed inability to attend it due to preoccupation with other meetings.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will now hold an all-party meeting to discuss Parliament functioning on Monday.

Congress and some opposition parties are demanding resignation of Swaraj and Raje for helping controversial former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

Chouhan has been targeted over the Vyapam recruitment scam and related deaths of accused and witnesses.