New Delhi, July 26 (IANS): The Congress on Wednesday accused the Modi government of following double standards and demanded the suspension of BJP member Anurag Thakur from the Lok Sabha for filming proceedings of the House on his phone. Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the BJP government was preventing the Lok Sabha from debating issues facing the country. "The government has adopted a fascist approach and a dictatorial agenda," Kharge said. Posing questions to the government, the Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government were running away from "debate and responsibility" to the Parliament. He accused the government of "double standards", saying that six Congress members had been suspended from the House but Thakur had been let off with a warning. "Why are two yardsticks being applied," he asked. Kharge accused the government of having exerted pressure on Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take action against the Congress MPs. On Monday, six Congress MPs - Gaurav Gogoi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ranjit Ranjan, Sushmita Dev, M.K. Raghavan and K. Suresh were suspended for five sittings of the House after they tore and threw papers in the House as well as towards the Speaker's podium. Kharge said it was the third day since the members had been suspended and "such a big punishment had not been given earlier". "Anurag Thakur is excused after a warning. Our members are suspended. The government is exerting pressure. We are not afraid of its dictatorial attitude," he said and added that the Congress will "insist on suspending (Thakur) from the House". The six Congress MPs were also present with Kharge at the press conference. The Congress leader said the party members wanted to raise the issue of "injustice" to Dalits, minorities, weaker sections, "mob frenzy" and issues concerning farmers but the party's adjournment motion notices were not accepted. "The whole country is debating these issues. We were told these will be discussed later. We were ready for discussion in any form," Kharge said. The Congress leader said the members who were seeking to raise the issues vociferously were suspended. Kharge also alleged that the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar and BJP members "get full time to speak" but not them. Asked if he was questioning the ruling of the Speaker, Kharge said they respect her but stressed that the government was exerting pressure. Attacking Modi, Kharge said he had chosen to speak on cow vigilantism outside but not inside Parliament. "He chooses to speak to captive audiences in BJP rallies but misses every opportunity (in the House) for a meaningful debate to answer questions," Kharge said. RS passes statistics amendment bill amid opposition reservations Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017, even as Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed reservations over its timing. The bill amends the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008, and extends its jurisdiction to Jammu and Kashmir for collection of statistics pertaining to subjects under the Union or Concurrent lists of the Constitution, as applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill after it was introduced there by the government during the Budget Session. The 2008 Act facilitates collection of statistics related to social, economic, demographic, scientific, and environmental aspects, by the central, state, and local governments. It facilitates the appointment of statistics officers to collect information, and contains provisions to ensure security of information. The Act provides that information collected under it can be used only for statistical purposes. The bill removes this provision and allows the central government to determine the manner in which such collected information will be used, for statistical purpose. Members participating in the debate raised concerns about the bill's implications on Article 370 (which bestows special status on Jammu and Kashmir), privacy, data security, among other things. Azad, a former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, complained that the government did not take any member of Parliament from the state, including him, senior Nationalist Conference leader Farooq Abdullah or Bharatiya Janata Party coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party, into confidence before introducing the bill. "We request you to ask the assembly to pass the bill, instead of passing it unilaterally here. A small spark can lead to a big fire -- be sensitive and considerate," Azad said. The senior Congress leader asked the Minister to defer reply on the discussion and consider the bill more thoroughly at a time when the Kashmir Valley situation is "returning towards normalcy". However, the government went ahead with the bill's passage, with Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister D.V. Sadanand Gowda saying that its provisions neither override Article 370 nor the state government's powers. "Non-availability of data hurts the country's development, including Jammu and Kashmir," Gowda said. He said the Centre had sent a Cabinet note to the state government containing a proposal to amend the law but it did not respond. As the bill was taken up for passage, Azad once again warned the Union government that "should anything go wrong, the National Democratic Alliance government will be squarely responsible".
