This Article is From Jul 22, 2015

Lalit-Gate Chaos in Parliament, Opposition Unyielding: 10 Developments

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Congress members wore black armbands in the Lok Sabha to demand the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two BJP Chief Ministers.

With the opposition unbending on its demand for the resignation of three top BJP leaders, Parliament was disrupted and adjourned for the day this afternoon, even as Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj once again made it clear that she is ready to make a statement on 'Lalit-Gate': the scandal centered on the assistance provided to tainted cricket mogul Lalit Modi by her and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Here are the 10 latest developments on what happened in Parliament:

  1. As opposition law-makers held noisy protests for the second day in a row, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan warned of disciplinary action. Go ahead, said members of the Opposition.

  2. The government says it's ready for a debate on Lalit-Gate. But the opposition says Ms Swaraj and Ms Raje must resign, along with Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, whose government is embroiled by a massive fraud in entrance exams for college and government jobs.

  3. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, defending her party's refusal to allow Parliament proceedings, said, "What were you (the BJP) doing for so many years?"

  4. At a meeting led by the Prime Minister before Parliament convened for the day, the BJP told its lawmakers to remain strong with a counterattack to the Opposition. The party has said there is no question of any resignations.

  5. Ms Swaraj presented a detailed explanation at the session of why she intervened to help Lalit Modi get urgent travel papers last year.

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  7. Ms Swaraj has also vowed on Twitter to reveal in Parliament the name of a Congress leader who allegedly asked her to arrange a diplomatic passport for a former Congress minister accused of corruption in the allocation of a coal field to a private firm.

  8. "What law has Sushma Swaraj broken?" asked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has backed Ms Swaraj's stand that her assistance to Lalit Modi was on "humanitarian grounds" because he needed to accompany his wife abroad for medical treatment.

  9. The stalemate between the Opposition and the government imperils urgent reforms that the PM wants cleared, including a national Goods and Services Tax (GST).

  10. The government says Parliament cannot debate on state issues - the Vyapam scam linked to Mr Chouhan and Ms Raje's links to Lalit Modi.

  11. Opposition leaders like Sitaram Yechury of the Left and Mayawati said both controversies are national; in the Vyapam case, they said, the deaths of nearly 30 people that are linked to the scandal merit an urgent discussion.

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