Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With Parliament's Winter Session drawing to a close, the Congress on Friday alleged that the session began with the government "insulting" Rabindranath Tagore and ended with the "insult" of Mahatma Gandhi.
Terming it as a 'pradushan kaleen' session, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also said that his party was absolutely ready to have a discussion on air pollution but the government was "running away" from a discussion on it.
"We were told 14 bills will be taken up with two being a mere formality on Manipur and Supplementary demand for grants. Out of the 12 bills, five were not introduced. I don't know why they give this information when they don't want to bring bills," Ramesh said at a press conference.
"I had told Rajnath Singh at the all-party meeting that the meeting is a formality and usually at the end of session they come out with a Brahmos missile. He laughed. It happened this time as well and a bill was brought towards the end and was passed amid opposition uproar," Ramesh said in a reference to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Bill.
He said the Vande Mataram debate during the session was all about government "defaming Nehru" and "twisting history".
"Tagore was insulted. It was on Tagore's recommendation in 1937, the CWC decided that the first two stanzas will be sung as national song," he said.
India's first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, was also insulted, he said.
The session then ended with the "insult of Gandhi", he said in an apparent reference to the passage of G RAM G Bill that replaces MGNREGA -- a UPA-era law.
"PM Modi's strategy was clear which was to insult the three people who built modern India," Ramesh said.
Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, drawing curtains on the 19-day-long Winter Session of Parliament which saw the passage of crucial bills, including one to repeal the 20-year-old MNREGA and another on opening up the civil nuclear sector for private participation.
The G RAM G Bill, assuring 125 days of guaranteed jobs for rural India, was passed amid opposition protests on Thursday, including tearing of papers.
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, which seeks to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation, was also passed during the session.
The Lok Sabha also passed a Bill to raise FDI in the insurance sector to 100 per cent from the current 74 per cent, which is expected to increase insurance penetration, lower premiums, and boost job creation.
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned sine die. The Winter session of Parliament started on December 1.
The Upper House sat past midnight on Thursday to pass legislation that replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA).