Congress Not Alone. In Battle Against Government, Other Parties Join In

NEW DELHI: As it battled an aggressive Congress on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, the ruling BJP seemed to pin much on division in the opposition ranks on the issue of its senior leaders caught in scandals resigning. The party alleged that the Congress was isolated in demanding that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and its two chief ministers Vasundhara Raje from Rajasthan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Madhya Pradesh must resign. On Tuesday, however, those hopes came unstuck. “Remove the ministers and go for a thorough investigation,” the Left’s Sitaram Yechury said, also supporting the Congress’ contention that the BJP must do now as they demanded when in opposition. “The BJP should apply the same yardstick now in power that they rightly demanded of UPA,” Mr Yechury said. Mayawati, of the Bahujan Samaj Party, said, “The Lalit Modi scam which involved the foreign minister and Rajasthan chief minister, is a serious matter… I believe that they should be removed from their positions.” The Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Aggarwal said the two chief ministers must resign, but emphasised that his party is not demanding the removal of Sushma Swaraj. “Politicians can’t be asked to step down on the basis of some recommendations they make,” Mr Aggarwal said. Ms Swaraj and Ms Raje are caught in a political storm over having helped disgraced cricket boss Lalit Modi. Shivraj Chouhan is being targeted over the Vayapam recruitment scam in his state. The Congress is clear that like today, it will continue to disrupt Parliament with loud protests till the three BJP leaders resign or are sacked. From tomorrow, vice president Rahul Gandhi will lead protests over one issue a day. It rejected the government’s offer of debate. “There cannot be a proper inquiry till the minister and two chief ministers resign. We have been debating this for two months,” said the Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad.