New Delhi: The Monsoon Session of Parliament got off to a stormy start on Tuesday with the Congress demanding that disgraced former IPL chief Lalit Modi be brought back to India as soon as possible.
Attacking the Modi government, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said: “There seemed to be no emergency in regard to Lalit Modi’s travel documents. He has been travelling the world, having fun,” he said.
Rebutting Congress’ allegations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was ready to make a statement on why that she had helped Lalit Modi get documents that would allow him to travel to Portugal from London.
All this played out in the Rajya Sabha which was then adjourned till noon.
Earlier, PM Modi had voiced hope that the Monsoon Session of Parliament would be fruitful and that promises made by “some political parties” during the last session to allow work on priority would be kept.
“In the last session, some political parties had given the assurance that in the next session, some work will be done on priority. I am hopeful that good decisions and more decisions will be taken in this session,” he told reporters in the Parliament complex on the first day of the Monsoon Session.
Modi thanked the MPs for their support during the Budget Session and hoped that all parliamentarians will contribute towards good quality debates and support the business and proceedings.
The Prime Minister chose the occasion to remind parties that smooth running of Parliament was a “shared responsibility” though the government has to take initiative for it. He appealed to them to utilise Parliament time for discussing all issues.
