The government is at war with itself: BJP

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged that the UPA II government is at war with itself on many issues.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said: "There are differences between the government and the Congress that came to the fore during the Monsoon Session. Internal differences in the government were clear all through the session."

Asserting that BJP was successful in pushing the government over critical issues, Swaraj said, "Most of the issues that we wanted to discuss were successfully debated by the Parliament."

Claiming a moral victory for the opposition, she said, "Initially there were differences. But later on, the whole Opposition came together for a larger cause."

She, however, expressed her dissatisfaction over the government's handling of the Gujarat Lokayukta issue where the Governor appointed the ombudsman without getting the assent of the ruling party.

Ruing over the issue, Swaraj said, "Gujarat Lokayukta issue is a matter of grave concern as it is clearly a case of bypassing the constitution of the country."

"How can Governor bypass the chief minister," she quipped.

Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, seemed very unhappy with the government's handling of terrorism, especially in the wake of Wednesday's Delhi High Court blast that claimed 13 lives.

He said, "The government says that they have zero tolerance towards the terrorists, but what we want is zero terrorism in the country. We want the government to take strict measures against the terrorists."

"Tackling terrorism is a major challenge and the government must face it," Jaitely added.

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Seemingly dissatisfied with the probe into the Delhi high court blast case, the veteran leader said, "The steps taken by the government are not satisfactory. Still there are no headways made in the probe."

Terming the blast as the result of an intelligence failure, the BJP leader said, "The government's intelligence apparatus has been bypassed by the terrorists. The National Intelligence Agency and other agencies have failed to combat terror."

The Monsoon Session of the Parliament that ended on Thursday was very stormy with issues such as social activist Anna Hazare's fast, Lokpal Bill, cash-for-votes scam and the blast at the Delhi high court, and kept the government on the back foot all through.