Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad
The Congress will not allow parliament to function when it meets later this month unless top BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje are removed from office for favours extended to disgraced cricket mogul Lalit Modi, said Ghulam Nabi Azad today.
Other opposition parties "should prove they are not compromising with their principles or integrity" and join the Congress' campaign, he said.
The government has said it will not dismiss Mrs Swaraj as Foreign Minister or Ms Raje as Rajasthan Chief Minister, insisting that neither is guilty of moral or legal transgressions. But its stand-off with the Congress over their removal endangers the Prime Minister's reform agenda - the key proposals it wants parliament to clear include the landmark Goods and Sales Tax reform (GST) and a new law for the acquisition of farm land for industry and infrastructure.
The Opposition's support is necessary for the government to push through legislation in the Upper House or the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.
Congress sources said the party has decided that when parliament convenes on the 21st, it will not allow the Rajya Sabha to function at all unless the Prime Minister makes a statement on the BJP leaders who furthered Lalit Modi's case with UK immigration officials while he avoided returning home to face corruption charges.
Other parties have not made it clear if they will corner the government in parliament over Mrs Swaraj and Ms Raje. The Trinamool Congress may push for Mrs Swaraj's dismissal, said sources. Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janta Dal are also reportedly inclined to back that demand.
The Congress said that while it will continue to press for changes to the GST proposal, which introduces a nationwide sales tax to create a unified market, the party will not offer any negotiations on the Land Acquisition Bill, which it has denounced as "anti-farmer".
Both reforms were stalled in the last session of parliament and sent to committees for review.