Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has signalled and insisted that her party MPs should persist with the aggression it displayed in the Rajya Sabha to ensure that the parliament does not function without the resignation of Swaraj, Raje and Chouhan. Congress, which was snubbed by the people of India in the Lok Sabha elections is trying its level best to be in the news and overcome the irrelevancy of the party in the Indian political arena.

Irrespective of not getting the active support of other opposition parties, Congress is set to stall Lok Sabha proceedings to ensure that Congress still exists in Indian politics. Congress has given a notice for discussion on these issues, but when the government agreed for discussion, it backtracked for fear of getting exposed. Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and deputy leader Anand Sharma told that Congress had adopted the policy of "first resignation, then discussion". Azad said if the government wanted the legislations to be passed, it should sack the tainted leaders as was being demanded for over a month since the scams came to light. This is an unprecedented requirement which has not happened even during the UPA term.

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Congress had given notice for a discussion, but when the government agreed, the opposition party kept asking for the resignation of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and other leaders. "Congress cannot make reckless allegations and throw well-settled parliamentary traditions to the wind," he said.

While the party chief is raising the prospects of prolonged disruption in Parliament, its MP Shashi Tharoor raised a voice of dissent by saying continuous stalling of the Houses would not send a good message. He added that people would not think well about such a move.

The government said that the state issues could not be discussed in Parliament. If debate on state issues was allowed, then there could be discussions on scams in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, all ruled by Congress, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Congress has a meagre 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha and is not even eligible for the post of opposition leader, Sonia has instructed all members to be present to ensure that the party's feeble voice is not weakened.

By Premji