Congress slams Centre over delay in winter session

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) The Congress on Friday slammed the government amid reports that the winter session of Parliament may be postponed for the Gujarat election.

Terming the move as a "Tughlaqi adhocism", the party said the government could be planning a five or seven-day session for mere "tokenism".

The party said such decisions would "help people who don't want debates on issues of national importance".

"It is a very serious question. Are you having election in Gujarat or around the country for the first time? Is 2017 the first state election?

"We have had elections every year. Has Gujarat election suddenly become so paramount that Parliament session must be... Actually it is not postponement, as in postponement date is known. But no date has been announced here," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi.

"So, where is the question of postponement? You (the government) will then issue a notification in the middle of December to sit in January. This also reflects their arrogance," he added.

Singhvi further said: "You are perhaps planning a five or seven-day tokenism. Who is helped by the tokenism?"

He said: "It helps people who don't want those debates. Are they scared of facing questions? And what is this new model that for one state election, Parliament session date is changed? Who was consulted?"

"It is a very serious thing. There will be elections every year. Tomorrow, there may be Madhya Pradesh elections...why they must have a session at that time? Why do you discriminate between states? This is absolute Tughlaqi adhocism," he said.