Parliament's winter session delayed in view Gujarat polls: Owaisi

Hyderabad : MIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday alleged the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre deliberately delayed the winter session of the Parliament to avoid debate and questions on GST, demonetisation and the Rafale aircraft deal which could have influenced Gujarat voters.

"BJP Government wants to escape accountability to avoid influencing the electorate in Gujarat, though the electorate has the right to know. It is no excuse that the Congress has also committed similar abuses in the past which is readily conceded. However, it raises the vital questions rising above party debates, namely the role and status of parliament as “Grand Inquest" of the nations," Asaduddin Owaisi said in a statement today.

Asaduddin Owaisi said that the British House of Commons debated the motion of No Confidence against Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the worst days of 2nd World War.

"Parliament is not a mere legislative machine. It exists also to bring the Government of the day to account and our Prime Minister resists that notoriously.

The Head of the State is bound by the advice of the Prime Minister on summoning parliament but in cases of certain abuse like the present one he owes the duty to summon parliament. But it will be unrealistic to expect the president who is normally elected on party basis to exercise such a power. The nation is helpless and the parliament is robbed of its power to ensure government accountability to the nation precisely at a time when questions are asked all over the country," he said.