Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav during the ongoing Monsoon session at Parliament in New Delhi on Monday. (Press Trust of India)
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's warning to the Congress on disrupting Parliament won him praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting of BJP lawmakers this morning.
BJP leader and minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said after the meeting of the BJP parliamentary party, "today the Prime Minister said he feels the end of the session shows that there are some people who are using Parliament to stop growth and development," a reference to the Congress, which has disrupted the entire monsoon session demanding the removal of three top BJP leaders caught in scandals.
Mr Rudy said the PM, "thanked Mulayam Singh and other parties who felt it is a conspiracy that development is being stalled."
On Monday, Mulayam Singh, whose party is an important constituent of the opposition, split the opposition ranks by warning the Congress, "Enough is enough... We will not back you if you keep protesting."
With only three days of the Monsoon Session now remaining, the government plans to make a final attempt to push the Goods and Services Tax or GST bill, which gives effect to a major reform, through the Rajya Sabha or Upper House where it is in a minority and needs the support of Opposition parties to pass legislation.
The Samajwadi Party and other regional parties that rule states like the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal United support GST, which will benefit poorer states that consume more and manufacture less.
But the Congress, which has the most Rajya Sabha members has opposed the bill as have Left parties. The GST bill, which seeks to amend the Constitution, must be approved by a two-thirds majority.
The BJP has issued a whip for all its lawmakers to be present in both Houses in the next three days. Those who have plans for foreign tours have been asked to cancel them.
"The country wants GST. Having being so badly rejected by people of India, they are trying to derail development which the Modi government wants to do," BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.