New Delhi: Concerned over constant Parliament disruptions, over 15,000 people - including the nation's top industrialists - have launched a signature campaign. The petition urges lawmakers to allow Parliament to function, debate and legislate.
The petition says, "I'm a taxpayer and my hard earned income is funding these Parliament sessions. Sign my petition asking the party leaders to pass the GST bill before the session is over! Common man is the one suffering and our hard earned money is being wasted by our Parliamentarians. GST is one of the most critical reforms for India."
The petition has been signed by top industrialists including Rahul Bajaj, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Pawan Munjal of Hero MotorCorp, Adi Godrej and Kiran Majumdar Shaw.
"The Opposition cannot have these protests everyday in Parliament," Shaw said. "It clearly shows they don't want the development of the country."
"The petition is for all parties to come together. We hope that the GST will come in by April 1, 2016. India can have five years of double digit growth if the GST is introduced," Adi Godrej said.
The Congress, however, hit back, with spokesperson Manish Tiwari saying, "Where was the concern of corporate India when a minister of the government was helping a fugitive?". He was referring to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who is accused of helping tainted cricket administrator Lalit Modi get travel papers from UK to Portugal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the Congress's behaviour "shameful".
"It is my humble request to the Opposition to not behave like this in Parliament," BJP's Venkaiyah Naidu said. "If the Congress must protest, I request them to keep it out of Parliament. It is shameful that the Congress is being unruly inside Parliament," he said, pointing out that the Congress's protests were affecting the image of Parliament.
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