Disruptions in Parliament were 'government-sponsored': Tharoor

Tharoor, who was in Raipur to address the state unit of the All India Professionals Congress, said the organisation was created to bring professionals into politics.

Raipur, Apr 11: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday (April 11) accused the BJP of engineering "proxy disruption" during the recently-concluded Budget session of Parliament.

He was speaking to reporters at the Raipur airport. "The allegations are baseless. Congress members remained seated and never trooped into the well," Tharoor said, when asked about the BJP's accusation that the session was washed out because of disruptions by Congress members.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and other BJP leaders' day-long fast tomorrow over the washed-out session, he quipped, "Modi had said four years ago that Na khaunga, na khane dunga', and it is good that he is not going to eat tomorrow."

"Earlier, BJP's ally, was disrupting the House," he said, in an apparent reference to the TDP which had raised the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh in Parliament.

"When they sat down after 10 days, the AIADMK, which survives in Chennai only because of the support of the BJP, started protesting in the House over the Cauvery issue. They are not opposition parties, they had never opposed the BJP so far," he said.

"I feel it was a government-sponsored disruption. The way they (government) want proxy voting (rights) for non- resident Indians, they did proxy-disruption inside Parliament," the Congress MP said.

"The BJP wanted to avoid debate on no-confidence motion. Just to avoid the country listening to a debate on the failure of the government, they did not allow the debate," Tharoor alleged.

"Naturally, the government was going to win the vote (on no-confidence motion) but they did not even want to have a discussion on the allegations being levelled against them," he said.

Tharoor, who was in Raipur to address the state unit of the All India Professionals Congress, said the organisation was created to bring professionals into politics.

"In our country, people from different sections of society join politics, but generally professionals keep away. They do their work, pay taxes and in the evening, after coming home, they complain about politics," he said.

"Professionals think they don't have the opportunity to join politics. We want to give them a chance, to listen to their ideas," he said, adding that the AIPC has set up 45 chapters in 20 states so far.

PTI