File photo: The Parliament House in New Delhi.
The monsoon session of Parliament has just four more days to go, but there's no sign of a breakthrough in the deadlock between the Modi government and the Opposition.
With the return of the 25 suspended Congress members on Monday, the Lok Sabha is likely to see disruptions once again. The Congress has made it clear that the protests inside the House will continue if the government didn't accept their demand of removing the "tainted ministers and chief ministers".
"Our Opposition to the whole issue of corruption, resignations, legal and moral culpability of sitting ministers is based on good sense and facts," said Abhishek Singhvi, senior Congress spokesperson and a lawmaker from Rajya Sabha.
Since the beginning of the monsoon session, the Congress, along with other opposition parties, has been insisting on the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over what is called the "Lalitgate" and the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.
But the government appears equally determined not to accede to any demands of the Opposition.
"The Congress is now saying that you made six of our ministers resign, so you make your two ministers resign. But why should we when we have not done anything wrong?" said Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
Last Friday, Rahul Gandhi had set the tone for the Congress when he accused financial transaction between Sushma Swaraj's family and Lalit Modi. "She (Sushma Swaraj) should tell the country exactly how much Lalit Modi-ji has paid her family to keep himself out of jail," he had said.
On Sunday, junior minister for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hit back. "The brand new leader of the grand old party has moved from nonsense to nuisance," he told NDTV.
As the government and the Opposition engage in a war of words, crucial bills remain stalled. Topping the list is the flagship Goods and Services Tax or GST bill.