New Delhi: As the Budget Session of the Parliament was adjourned sine die on Thursday amid ruckus by the Opposition parties over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe on the Adani issue, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Narendra Modi government of not walking the talk on democratic principles and causing disruptions in Parliament to divert attention from the Opposition’s demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue.
With Tricolour in hand, several Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to Vijay Chowk and then representatives of 19 parties held a press conference at the Constitution Club where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders resolved to take the Opposition unity further.
Kharge said that the government’s intention was to get the Budget Session washed out.
Like-minded parties like the DMK, Samajwadi Party, the RJD, the NCP and the Left took part in the march. A total of 13 opposition parties, including the Congress, boycotted the Speaker’s customary tea gathering. Sonia Gandhi too held the national flag at Parliament’s gate number 1 where all opposition MPs gathered before starting the march which was led by Kharge.
“The government talks a lot about democracy, but it does not follow what it says. The Budget of Rs 50-lakh crore was passed in just 12 minutes, but they (BJP) always allege that the Opposition parties have no interest, and they keep disturbing the House,” Kharge alleged.
“Why are you fearing from constituting a joint parliamentary committee probe even when the BJP will have its say as it will have majority members...Something is fishy, that is why the government is not agreeing to order a JPC probe into the Adani issue,” Kharge said.
“The disturbance was created by the ruling party. Whenever we made a demand, we were not allowed to speak. This has happened for the first time in my public life of 52 years and never has such a thing happened earlier,” he said.
The government’s “intention was to get the Budget Session washed out and we condemn this attitude”, the Congress chief said, adding that “if this continues, democracy will be finished, and we will move towards dictatorship”.
Kharge further said that the issues raised by 18 to 19 Opposition parties were on the Adani matter and how his wealth increased to Rs 12 lakh-crore in just a period of 2 to 2.5 years.
The Congress chief said the government did not answer on the Adani issue in Parliament and instead diverted attention by demanding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s apology over his remarks in the UK.
The demand for the JPC probe was made to ensure transparency in the Adani case as MPs of opposition parties would have got an opportunity to inspect the documents related to the issue, he said.
On the Parliament standoff, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that the opposition parties stand united on the issue of Adani. “The government’s message behind Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification is very clear that you can’t raise questions on this issue,” the AAP MP said.