'Friendship in Mumbai, wrestling in Delhi', no clarity on Opposition's stand: Pralhad Joshi

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday hit back at the Opposition, saying their stand is not clear as they show "friendship in Mumbai and wrestling in Delhi".

Referring to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's statement that counters Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee's 'no UPA' call, the Minister said "I tell the Congress Party that you clear your stand".

"Sharad Pawar says non-Congress parties should unite against Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena says Congress should lead us. Friendship in Mumbai, wrestling in Delhi. What is it? Earlier, there used to be friendship in Delhi. It has been totally opposite to what used to happen earlier," Joshi said while speaking toinside Parliament premises.

"Let the Congress take a stand first. They are confused," he added.

The Minister's remarks came a day after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday, after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, said that "there cannot be an opposition front without the Congress party". The two parties, and the Nationalist Congress Party are part of Maharashtra's ruling MVA coalition.

Asked over Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's comment that "BJP is a fake flower", Joshi said, "They know it very well who is fake and what happened in 2014, 2017 and 2019. They will also know what will happen now."

The SP leader in a joint rally with RLD's Jayant Chaudhary in Meerut had said "the BJP is a fake flower and can never be a source of fragrance".

On Opposition parties' protest in Rajya Sabha, the Joshi said that the Centre will revoke the suspension of 12 MPs if the Opposition is ready to apologize for their conduct in Rajya Sabha.

Joshi said the way the Opposition is behaving is not good.

In an on-record statement, Joshi said he told in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday "if the Opposition is ready to apologize we will revoke the suspension of the 12 MPs".

Joshi said the government could pass the bills yesterday and the day before yesterday but "we don't want to pass the bills in the din". "We want discussion and constructive suggestions. But they are not ready to apologize."

The Minister said, "Congress is responsible for its downfall due to such kind of attitude because they think what they do is right".

"I again request them to apologize. The Opposition should at least accept that they did a very big mistake. But they are not ready to accept it. They think what they did was right. People of the country are watching all these things," said Joshi.

In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on Monday following a motion brought in by the government.

The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.

The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.

Since their suspension, all the 12 MPs sit near Mahatma Gandhi Statue in the Parliament premises.

( With inputs from ANI )

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