New Delhi:
Congress on Saturday came down heavily on BJP for casting aspersions on Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in the wake of adjournment of the House sine die on Thursday when the Lokpal Bill was being debated.
Accusing the Opposition party of having a "consistent and repeated history" of attacking constitutional institutions, party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi dismissed BJP's attack on Mr Ansari as "unfair and unbecoming potshots".
"BJP has the habit of sensationalising and seeing conspiracy lurking everywhere... now they want to pass on the responsibility as they were never interested in passage of the bill.
"It is a clear cut case of guilt complex. Assassins are trying to accuse the victim of the murder of democracy," he said when asked about charges that Ansari followed the advice of top Congress leadership.
He said whenever decisions have gone against the BJP, it has attacked the Election Commission, the CBI and other institutions.
The Congress attack came a day after BJP indicated that it was unhappy with the way Mr Ansari had conducted himself during the last few minutes of the session on Thursday when the bill was being discussed, but restrained itself due to respect for the high office. Ansari holds the office of the Vice President.
Ansari had adjourned the Rajya Sabha observing that there was total impasse and the House could not be run smoothly.
The BJP was not pleased with Mr Ansari's decision and felt the matter could have been dealt with differently. The Opposition wanted the House to continue functioning till the bill was passed or permission from the President to extend the session.
"I have strong views on that ruling but I will keep it to myself," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley had said.