Ms Swaraj, who participated in today's all-party meeting, poked fun at the list of 39 bills prepared by the government's floor managers
The BJP's Sushma Swaraj today took a robust swipe at the ruling Congress when she observed at an all-party meeting that the list of 39 bills that the government has lined up for the two-week session of Parliament beginning on Wednesday, "looks like your leader's (Rahul Gandhi's) agenda and the Congress' election programme."
"Why should we follow your leader's wishes?" she asked.
That said, however, the BJP has informed the government that it has no objection to helping it pass any of the bills, but wants to know if the houses will be allowed to run by the Congress' own members and others. "The last two sessions were sacrificed to chaos over Telangana. If the government can assure us that the House will function peacefully, we have no problem in passing the anti-corruption and other bills," Ms Swaraj said.
The UPA government urgently wants to push through six anti-graft bills that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi says form the bulwark of his fight against corruption, his chief election agenda. It will also attempt to pass the long-languishing women's reservation bill and the contentious Telangana statehood bill.
The Telangana Bill was last week rejected by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, also led by the Congress, setting up a confrontation now expected to play out in Parliament between MPs, across parties, from Andhra Pradesh who want the state split to create Telangana and those who oppose it.
The Left and other parties like Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party have suggested that the government should not attempt to push anything through except crucial financial bills. They argue that with only months left before the general elections, new bills should now be left for a new government to pass.
"39 Bills, 12 days of business. Considering them all is out of question, Government needs to prioritize,'' tweeted senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury after attending the all-party meeting.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress wanted the vote-on-account forwarded so that the session could close, but the government has said budget papers are not ready.
The session begins on February 5 and will end on February 20; it is the last parliamentary sitting before the national election due by May.