Farmers Movement Archive

In a show of unity, 14 parties counter govt on Parliament logjam

NEW DELHI: Opposition unity was on display again on Wednesday when 14 parties refuted the charges of stalling and disrupting Parliament proceedings and blamed it on the government for its refusal to accept the demand for a discussion on the Pegasus issue and farm laws. Continuing with their demand for a debate on these issues, leaders of 14 opposition parties said the responsibility for the deadlock in Parliament lies squarely with the government and urged it to respect parliamentary democracy by accepting their demand for a discussion on them. In the joint statement, 18 leaders from 14 parties said it is unfortunate that the government has "unleashed a misleading campaign to malign the combined opposition" and blaming it for the continued disruption of Parliament proceedings. "The responsibility for the deadlock lies squarely at the doorsteps of the government, which remains arrogant and obdurate and refuses to accept the opposition's demand for an informed debate in both the houses," the statement said. The statement issued by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK's T R Balu and Tiruchi Siva, Congress' Anand Sharma, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav, Derek O' Brien and Kalyan Banerjee of Trinamool Congress and Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut from Shiv Sena, urged the government "to respect parliamentary democracy and accept the demand for discussions". Manoj Jha (RJD), CPM's Elamaram Kareem, CPI's Binoy Viswam, AAP's Sushil Gupta, IUML's Mohd. Basheer, NC's Hasnain Masoodi, RSP's N K Premachandran and LJD's M V Shreyams Kumar were also among the signatories of the joint statement. The opposition statement comes after the government attacked Congress and other opposition parties for the disruptions in Parliament since it opened for the monsoon session on July 19. PM Narendra Modi had on Tuesday led the attack asking BJP MPs to "expose the party (Congress) before the public and the media". The statement said: "The opposition parties stand firm and united on their demand for a discussion on Pegasus issue in Parliament, replied to by the home minister, as this has national security dimensions."

The Times of India

2021-08-05

India