Cong to dig heels over Gadkari's resignation demand

The demand for resignation of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to gain momentum with Congress today signalling that it would dug its heels on the issue in Parliament next week.

"Mood of the House is to persist with the demand. Government is playing with fire" by ignoring the opposition, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters on a day when Rajya Sabha was rocked over the issue.

Singhvi merely said he could talk for the day, when asked whether the remaining three days of the Budget session would be a stormy affair.

The Upper House failed to transact any business as Opposition Congress created ruckus, demanding resignation of Gadkari in the wake of a CAG report that alleged irregularities involving loan extended to his family-linked Purti group.

Singhvi recalled how the BJP while in opposition had not allowed Parliament to function for several days to press for the resignation of the then Telecom Minister A Raja when the 2G spectrum controversy had broken.

Taking a dig at the BJP, he noted that before ink had dried on the CAG report on 2G, Parliament was not allowed to function over the demand for resignation of Raja.

He said now the BJP was singing different tune that the report of the CAG cannot be discussed in the House and therefore, the demand of the opposition was not proper.

Signalling to give BJP back in the same coin, he recalled that the party when in opposition was "most obstructive" in Parliament. "Now suddenly BJP is struck with amnesia".

A senior Congress leader, who declined to be identified, made it plain that if the government wants passage of the bills in Parliament next week, the resignation of Gadkari should come. "It is Gadkari or bills", he remarked at a time when important bills like GST and Land Acquisition bills are pending.

"When the test has come, the BJP should walk the talk. Why there is a great hiatus between principles and practise," he asked the ruling party.

Parliament is expected to be rocked next week with the Congress today insisting on resignation of Gadkari.

In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "This is not a question of allegation against an individual MP or minister. This is a CAG report."

"This is a CAG report against a company he was heading. Having been indicted he cannot continue as a minister," the Congress leader said.