Three days into the second budget session, the Congress and the BJP’s tussle will escalate on Wednesday as the ruling side has decided to go on a counter offensive on the AgustaWestland chopper deal issue.
Both the BJP and the Congress on Wednesday served notices for discussion on the issue in Parliament.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who became a Rajya Sabha MP on Tuesday, has served a notice on the chopper scam to the House in a bid to corner the Congress.
The BJP is trying to drag the top Congress leadership into the chopper scam that is allegedly to the tune of Rs 3600 crore.
Read | BJP goes after ‘bribe-takers’ in chopper deal, Cong junks graft charges
Congress president Sonia Gandhi called a strategy meeting at her residence on Wednesday morning. Senior party leaders were asked to attend.
The main opposition party, too, served a notice for discussion on the chopper deal, according to TV reports.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told media that the party is ready to discuss the issue in the House.
{{/usCountry}}Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told media that the party is ready to discuss the issue in the House.
{{/usCountry}}Read | Skeletons in closet: Five point guide to the AgustaWestland deal
The party has already indicated that it is in no mood to allow the Upper House to run. The Congress is the largest party in the Upper House where the Opposition enjoys majority.
Faced with the stiff resistance of the Congress, the Centre is already mulling options to shorten the Parliament session.
Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu, sources added, has asked his two junior ministers, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajiv Pratap Rudy to talk to different parties to build a consensus to curtail the session by at least a week.