Congress red-flags government's attempt to call special session of Parliament

Congress on Tuesday virtually red-flagged Government's attempts to call a special session of Parliament, telling it bluntly such an exercise would serve no purpose unless action was taken against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

At the same time, the party sought to dismiss the government's allegation that Congress was blocking the development agenda of the nation saying, "we are for the passage of GST if our amendments, which are in national interest are accepted."

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, while briefing the reporters after Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, charged the Modi dispensation of practising "politics of confrontation" with the Opposition. "The ruling party and the ministers under Modi's leadership are always in an aggressive mode against the Opposition and have never tried to reach out to us. We hear on television that talks are on with the Opposition but that happens only on telephone.

"There is always a word about holding talks with Pakistan at the Foreign Secretary or at the NSA level but they cannot talk across the table with the Opposition. We condemn this objectionable behaviour," Azad said, adding that Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu "did talk to me but on telephone". He insisted "convening of special session of Parliament will serve no purpose unless the government takes action against Sushma Swaraj and BJP Chief Ministers." Azad made these assertions on a day when the party's apex decision-making body, CWC, held a detailed discussion on this key reform measure and decided to stick to at least three of its key demands on GST.