Sunday Interview with Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi: ‘Why should our leaders resign?’

With the Monsoon Session of Parliament headed for a washout, the Centre blames the Congress’ ‘arrogance’. In an interview to Yojna Gusai, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says that the Congress is not only disturbing Parliament but also India’s growth.

It seems the Monsoon Session of Parliament is going to be a washout as the government’s efforts for smooth functioning of both the Houses have failed.
Congress’ arrogance is turning into anarchy. Since the first day of the Monsoon Session, the government has maintained that it is ready to discuss and debate any issue. But the Congress is adamant and unwilling to listen. It is sending a very wrong message.

Congress’ defeat in the 2014 general elections has made the party so desperate that it is not even ready to do an aatm chintan (introspection). Congress’ arrogance has only increased. And that is preventing it from realising that it is not just disturbing the proceedings of Parliament, but also disturbing the country’s growth. However, the government will continue with its efforts of putting the country on the path of development.

What about their demand for the resignations of some BJP leaders?

Why should our leaders resign? What wrong have they done? In Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s case, they tried to somehow find fault with her son’s business dealing, linking it to (former Indian Premier League chairman) Lalit Modi. Then they tried to find fault with documents of a palace that her family owns. Every other day they would come up with something or the other in the hope of putting pressure on Ms Raje.

As far as the Vyapam scam is concerned, it was Shivraj Singh Chouhan who himself initiated a probe when complaints started pouring in. After the Congress demanded a CBI probe, Mr Chouhan requested the court for the same. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has already given a clarification. The Congress is basically indulging in a “hit and run” campaign. If they really have something concrete against our leaders, they should discuss it in the House. However, they will do everything but discuss. They know that they don’t have anything against our leaders except allegations, so they are disturbing Parliament.

But your senior leader, Shanta Kumar, had also expressed what the Congress has been demanding.

Mr Kumar is our senior and respected leader. He has already clarified his stand and it is a closed chapter for us.

The government was claiming that other Opposition parties want the Houses to function, but suspension of 25 Congress MPs showed that the Opposition parties were united as they came out in the Congress’ support.

First of all, the decision to suspend or not suspend is taken by the Speaker (in the Lok Sabha) or the Chairman (in the Rajya Sabha). Government has nothing to do with it. Secondly, the Chair never prefers suspending any MP until such a situation arises. The behaviour and attitude of the Congress MPs was worse than being just “unparliamentary”. The suspended members forced the Chair to take action against them as it was affecting the proceedings.

Instead of introspecting on what they did, Congress MPs staged a protest outside the Speaker’s house. This has never happened in the history of Indian politics. Some posts, like that of the Speaker, the Chairman, Chief Justices and the President are above politics and political punching. But the Congress seems to have no respect for these posts.

So you are saying that the government is making all efforts for Parliament to function?

Since day one our ministers, including parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, finance minister Arun Jaitley, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy, I and other leaders have been meeting leaders of various other parties, including the Congress. There have been almost four all-party meetings since this session began. Other parties want to discuss important issues concerning common man but the Congress’ immature leadership has decided to disturb Parliament.

Some Opposition leaders claim that the situation in Parliament would not have worsened if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been approachable.

This is absolutely wrong. Mr Modi is the most approachable Prime Minister. So many political leaders meet him irrespective of the party s/he belongs to.

But many say that if Mr Modi had himself taken an initiative to end this logjam, the situation would have been different in Parliament.

The National Democratic Alliance runs with collective leadership unlike the United Progressive Alliance where the Prime Minister had to wait for the green signal from 10, Janpath. In each and every meeting, Mr Modi has reiterated that there should be communication, coordination and cooperation with the Opposition and their views should be considered. But it is not possible for Mr Modi to speak on each and every allegation that is being hurled at us. If needed, he can intervene. But before that, there should be some debate. Instead of sloganeering, Congress should utilise their energy in debates and discussions.

Are you hopeful that key bills will be passed in this session?

There are still four days remaining. We are doing our best. The Congress should realise that these bills do not belong to the NDA or the BJP; these bills are related to various reforms that will benefit the people. The Congress wanted the GST and real estate bills to be sent to the select committees. And we agreed. It had assured us that it will pass these bills once approved by the committee. But now it is coming up with excuses to stall the GST bill. Its members are using anything and everything to stall Parliament. There are other bills, including the Whistleblower Protection Bill, amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act, that are part of the reforms.

Even some BJP leaders, including Shatrughan Sinha, also expressed concern over suspension of Congress MPs...

Any individual can express his or her view or react.

How do you think the BJP will perform in the Bihar Assembly elections?

We are confident that the NDA will form its government in Bihar. The state witnessed “Jungle Raj” during the RJD rule and it is not ready for “Jungle Raj II” under JD(U)-RJD.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently wrote a very strong letter to Mr Modi over his “DNA” remark.

Mr Kumar does not have any achievements that he could highlight or publicise. So he is using such non-issues to remain in the news. But people of Bihar are more politically sharp than Mr Kumar and do not get swayed by non-issues. They react on issues.