Congress to stall Parliament over alleged political vendetta in National Herald case

New Delhi: Almost half of the Winter Session of Parliament has passed and still no significant work has been done. The House is expected to witness more fireworks on Thursday with the Opposition trying to corner the government on allegations of political vendetta.

Sources said that the Congress will continue its agitation in Parliament alleging political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party. In order to sideline the government in Parliament, the Congress has reached out to other opposition parties for support. So far, the Trinamool Congress is the only party to have lend support to the Congress.

The BJP has also come up with a counter-strategy to take on Congress' attacks and is trying to reiterate the point that a judicial decision cannot be used as political tool.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who has recently concluded her two-day visit to Pakistan, is expected to make a statement in Parliament. The opposition has hit out at the Modi government for changing its stand on Pakistan.

The Union Cabinet held a meeting on Wednesday where ministers felt that key legislations including GST Bill should not become casualty and there was a need to counter Opposition campaign.

Union ministers Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the case and the court order asking Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul to appear before it on December 19 and the resultant ruckus in both Houses of Parliament for the last two days created by the main Opposition party.

Sources said that the ministers were unanimous in seeking a robust counter to the campaign of Congress which has attributed political motive behind the case.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is the complainant in the case.

There were concerns that important bills like GST and real estate could get stuck up due to obstructions and there was need to push the legislative agenda of the government despite interruptions.

The government has been attacking Congress for seeking "remedy from Parliament" for "something that happened during a judicial process" and has been suggesting that the main Opposition party was doing it to block the passage of key reform measures including GST, they said.

(With additional information from PTI)