Bengaluru, Apr 12 (IANS): BJP's central ministers and its Karnataka leaders are observing a day-long fast on Thursday in cities across the state to protest the disruption of Parliament's budget session by opposition parties.
"The Modi government wants to make laws for the people but the Congress isn't letting us do so by continuously disrupting the Parliament sessions," said Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Javadekar, along with union ministers from the state Ananth Kumar (Parliamentary Affairs), D.V. Sadananda Gowda (Statistics and Programme Implementation) and other BJP workers staged a protest at Maurya Circle in the city centre.
Javadekar isthe party's state in-charge for the Assembly elections on May 12.
BJP President Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka, held the protest before the Deputy Commissioner's office in Dharwad in the state's northwestern region.
Shah hit out at the Congress for "disrupting" Parliament, saying it happened for the first in independent India's history that the ruling party (BJP) was ready to discuss every issue but the opposition was shying away from discussion.
Shah was joined by the party's state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa, MPs Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Pralhad Joshi and the party's state leader Jagadish Shettar among others.
The fast comes after the Congress, led by President Rahul Gandhi, observed a day-long fast on April 9 in Delhi against atrocities on Dalits and others.
'Farcical fast, absurd drama': Congress
Slamming the "farcical" fast by the BJP against Parliament's disruption, the Congress on Thursday said the ruling party was enacting an absurd drama of photo-ops and headline management.
It put out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders' schedule for the day mentioning breakfast and lunch timings on Twitter.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its President Amit Shah, are enacting an absurd drama. The fast is a lame excuse for the non-functioning of Parliament," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.
He attached Modi's travel schedule in Tamil Nadu, that showed that the Prime Minister would be having his breakfast on board the IAF BBJ at 6.40 a.m.
It also said that after his departure from Chennai at 2.25 p.m, he will have lunch on board.
The Congress spokesperson challenged the Prime Minister to prove him otherwise. "Now, tell us that this is a lie."
"Now, jumla fast gets over in an hour and feast after that. Good wishes for your fake fast," he added.
He also attached BJP chief Amit Shah's public programmes in Karnataka. It mentioned Shah will have lunch with farmers at 1.30 p.m in Rona Taluk village in Gadag.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Surjewala said: "Atonement should be there, where a serious and deliberate sin has occurred. Fast can be done only with selflessness, not otherwise."
The Congress leader said that this was, however, something that went beyond the BJP leaders' understanding who observe "fake fast" after having food.
Accusing the Modi government of denigrating Parliament by obstructing its functioning when it was in opposition till May 2014, Surjewala said the BJP should apologise for engineering disruptions and dishonouring democracy.
"The BJP disrupted Parliament through proxy allies, engineered deafening din and noise and did not permit the no-confidence motions to be deliberated upon or voted," said Surjewala.
The BJP, however, blamed the Congress-led opposition parties for disrupting Parliament's second part of the Budget Session from March 5 to April 6.
"For a party which disrupted 67 per cent of the functioning time of the previous Lok Sabha (2009-14) and wasted 250 hours of the Budget Session, the remorse for failing India can only be through a 'penance upvaas' (fasting)," said Surjewala.
Claiming that Modi lost credibility and that his words had no value, the Congress leader said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre had no accountability and had lost direction and purpose.
"Modi and Shah came to power riding a 'jumla' boat of fake promises. The boat has its underbelly and the rats are jumping ship!" said Surjewala.
The BJP refused to answer in Parliament how the jewellers accused in Rs 13,540-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case -- Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi -- were allowed to flee the country and on the other bank frauds, Surjewala said.