JOIN USGiving an assessment of the just-concluded Monsoon Session of Paliament, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, "The Government is at war with its own self", while Sushma Swaraj said differences between the Congress and Government came to the fore during the session.
"I have not seen the Government lose its credibility in one single Session of Parliament. When the Session started, the Government had a lot of arrogance, but there was bitterness amongst the senior people in the Government by the time the Session ended," said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told reporters that it was the Government which was responsible for stalling of Parliament, not the opposition. She said Government was divided in handling Anna Hazare's agitation, even as differences between the Congress and the Government came to the fore. There was lack of unanimity within the Government, while the opposition stood unitedly, she said.
Swaraj claimed while one section within the Government wanted to quell Hazare's agitation by using force, another section wanted to resolve it peacefully through negotiation and discussion.
Jaitley said that revulsion among the people against the UPA Government was visible at the RML Hospital where those injured in the Delhi High Court blast were admitted, claiming this was an indication of how it had "lost its credibility and its popularity was very low".
The BJP leader also claimed that many Congress leaders congratulated him on his statements made during the Hazare agitation that the Prime Minister was taking too much advice from advocates.
Swaraj said the opposition succeeded in raising all the issues on its agenda, be it corruption, terrorism, Lokpal, internal security, demand for Telangana and the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
"The internal differences within the government became apparent. These differences were exposed in the Lokpal agitation. While one section wanted to crush the movement, the other wanted to negotiate and find a solution. Even in the Congress there was a moderate and an aggressive faction," she said.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi's speech in Parliament on Anna Hazare's movement and the Lokpal Bill, Swaraj said the differences were "exposed" when he argued for giving constitutional powers to the ombudsman.
These internal contradictions had also led to the Cabinet striking down the Sports Bill and union minister Kapil Sibal facing opposition from Congress members in Rajya Sabha over a Bill, she said.
Echoing these sentiments, Jaitley said, "Revulsion has now set in... This government is at war with its own self." Jaitley said just before the monsoon session of Parliament there were serial blasts in Mumbai and towards the end of the session there was a blast at the Delhi High Court.
"Saying we have zero tolerance for terrorism is not enough. Bringing it to zero level is important," he said.
He insisted that though after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the government had announced that new systems were being put in place, these have failed to solve any of the big terror attack cases.
While pledging full support to the government in the fight against terror, the BJP also criticised it for failing to tackle this challenge.
"I cannot recall any other session where government had lost so much face. Its ebbing credibility was virtually finished by the time the session ended," Jaitley said.
The BJP leader insisted that some of the "defining moments" while this session was on were witnessed outside Parliament at the Ramlila grounds during Hazare's fast and at the hospitals after the Delhi High Court blast when ministers and Congress leaders were given a "hostile reception".
He alleged that the "arrogance" among some ministers had antagonised the people and caused a lot of bitterness.
Swaraj maintained that while there was no cohesiveness and unity in the government, the opposition was united.
"Initially, when the session began, it appeared that the opposition unity was breaking but we are happy that we were able to handle this and by the end of the session the unity was very strong," she said.
This had helped BJP put the government in the dock and given the opposition an upper hand, she claimed.