Sonia and Rahul Gandhi don't believe in democracy: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress over disruptions in Parliament for the last seven days and said that the grand old party does not have "democracy in their genes". Speaking to the media, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar urged the opposition parties to let the House function.

"We request Congress and other parties to let House function. It seems Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi don't believe in democracy. They speak outside on democracy but don't practice it in Parliament. Congress doesn't have democracy in their genes," Kumar said. "We have included all important issues in list of business. We have also issued a 3-line Whip to all our MPs. We request all the parties to let the Parliament function and discuss constructively," he added. The impasse in the Lok Sabha continued for the seventh day today with no let up in protests by members from opposition parties and TDP over issues like bank scams and special status demand for Andhra Pradesh, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House. Both Question Hour and Zero Hour could not be taken up as scores of members from the TDP, Congress, AIADMK, TRS and Trinamool Congress trooped into the Well.

Most of them were heard shouting "we want justice". Members from TDP, which quit the central government last week but remains part of the ruling NDA, were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. The House was scheduled to take up the key Finance Bill 2018 and Appropriation bills for FY 2017-18 and 2018-19. However, these could not come up today due to disruption of proceedings. The Lok Sabha has failed to transact substantial business on account of frequent disruptions since March 5 when the second leg of the Budget Session of Parliament commenced.