NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's main opposition Congress Party said it was not interested in trying to topple the government in the wake of the arms bribery scandal that has paralysed parliament.

"While we are interested in exposing and debating the rot and corruption in defence deals, we are not interested in playing the destabilising game or toppling the government," party spokesman Jaipal Reddy told a press conference yesterday.

"We simply want swift action taken against those involved in the scandal irrespective of their political hue and clout.

"We will not be blockading parliament forever," he said.

India's budget session of parliament adjourned amid pandemonium on March 23 as opposition MPs put the government on the mat over the defence scandal.

Both houses were paralysed for eight consecutive working days, with opposition MPs demanding that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government resign.

Internet website revelations

The scandal broke on March 13, when the tehelka.com website released a video showing politicians and defence officials apparently accepting bribes from journalists posing as arms dealers.

Parliament will re-open on Monday for the second leg of the budget session, but it has not been clear whether the Congress would allow the government to conduct business.

The Indian Express newspaper reported yesterday that the Congress would not press for the resignation of the Vajpayee administration or paralyse parliament.

"A consensus in this regard emerged at a close-door meeting held at the Janpath Road residence of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday," it said.

Breaking the impasse

Reddy also hinted that the Congress was keen on breaking the impasse.

"In principle, the Congress is not interested in blocking parliament. We had to resort to extra-parliamentary tactics because the government was surpressing the scandal," said Reddy.

"We had to protest strongly as the government's decision to order a judicial enquiry into the scandal is an eyewash," said Reddy.

The Congress has demanded that a joint parliamentary commission be appointed to look into the scam.

The scandal has become highly politicised, with Gandhi's Congress sensing a crucial opportunity to seize the initiative from the government ahead of key elections in five states on May 10.

The opposition has rejected the ruling coalition's challenge to a confidence vote in parliament, aware that it would lose but also because it believes it can fight more effectively through the media and on the streets.