Election season has begun. The minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday chose to a press conference on 39 Indians being killed in Iraq, to launch an attack on the Congress. The conference which was organised in light of the 39 Indians in Iraq being declared dead, became a platform to launch an attack on the Congress saying that it was playing politics with death.
Swaraj was referring to Congress disrupting the Lok Sabha. “It was politics of the lowest form and it has crossed all limits,’’ she said. “After seeing the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha…the Congress chief thought how could this happen… All the efforts of the government have come in the record. How can you let this happen? You can’t let this happen in the Lok Sabha. I had gone to the Lok Sabha with a heavy heart, I have come back with a heavier heart. Because it was bad news, I went with a heavy heart. But what transpired made it even heavier.’’
The press conference was scheduled for earlier in the day, but was cancelled because Swaraj had felt that she had made a statement in the House. When Lok Sabha was disrupted, she claims she finally asked for a conference again to address the nation. “The Congress has not stood up once during the time of the no confidence motion that is being placed in the House. What was the problem today that they chose to make a noise on this important day…”
The sparring between the two parties over the Indians dead has only just begun. The government has come under flak by the families for allegedly keeping them in the dark. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was quoted telling TV 18, “It is sad that so many people lost their lives. But why did the government mislead families and Parliament over the last years. Why give false hope?’’.
Countering this, Swaraj said that the government had done everything to find the Indians. “There are some governments that believe that missing means presumed dead. We are not those.”
She went on to say: “Today, when I had proof, they refused to listen. I want to ask the Congress leaders, why did they stop the functioning of Parliament today?”