New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on August 19 sought to demolish Sonia Gandhi's chargesheet against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition, asserting it does not behove the Congress president to speak on issues like undermining Parliamentary democracy and misuse of institutions like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In a spirited speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj recalled it was during Indira Gandhi's tenure that even the House was "misused" to bring a constitution amendment making the office of Prime Minister beyond judicial scrutiny.

She said this was done in 1975 when Allahabad High Court nullified her election to the Lok Sabha and the Supreme Court only granted her a conditional stay.

Countering Gandhi's charge that the BJP was instrumental in toppling the Arunachal Pradesh government recently, Swaraj said the Congress, which has ruled for 40 long years has "great expertise" in toppling governments.

The Minister said it was the Congress, which had indulged in destabilisation games in the North East. She said in 1980, after Indira Gandhi returned to power, the entire Janata Party government in Haryana had overnight crossed over to the Congress and got the dubious sobriquet of "Alibaba and 40 thieves".

Swaraj, who repeatedly faced interruptions from the Opposition and whose speech was loudly cheered by the ruling benches, had a dig at Gandhi by telling the Congress president to brush up her knowledge about the history of her party or else "you would have to face embarrassment".

PTI