The Congress party walked out of a meeting chaired by Speaker Om Birla, sought Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Pralhad Joshi’s comments against Rahul Gandhi be expunged in the Lok Sabha, shouted slogans along with other opposition parties and disrupted Parliament for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe on the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
The party’s protestations were backed by demonstrations in several parts of the country, with Congress workers and leaders leading marches to state governor houses in the hundreds against the Union government.
“If we talk about democracy in any college, we are called anti-nationals. In Korea, Modi said, whatever happened in this country in 70 years, he condemned them. In Canada, he said that he is cleaning the mess that has been spread,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in Delhi.
“There is no rule of law and democracy under Modi ji. They are running the country like a dictatorship, and then they talk about democracy,” Kharge said at a media briefing, alleging that he was not allowed to speak in the Rajya Sabha even for two minutes.
In the morning, the Congress held a strategy meeting in Delhi before holding a meeting with 15 other parties to discuss the floor strategy. “Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, a meeting was held. We discussed how ruling party MPs are trying use privilege notices to stop critical comments. There was also a discussion on how presiding officers are trying to throttle free speech in Parliament,” Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi later said. “The leaders agreed that the two issues should be taken up aggressively.”
“You (PM) insult three generations when you say nothing happened in the last 70 years, then you do not bother about the image of the country. You pat yourself on the back in Parliament saying ‘ek akela sab par bhari’, the world sees it and also laughs at it,” Khera said in a video statement in Hindi posted on his Twitter account.
“When you show red eyes to the media in the country and raid foreign media, then you do not bother about the image of the country,” Khera asked.
Earlier week ago, Nine Opposition leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging “misuse of central agencies” .
Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with alleged irregularity without a shred of evidence against him,” the Opposition leaders said in the letter to PM Modi.
They further said that his arrest would be cited as an example of political witch-hunt and confirms that “India’s democratic values stand threatened under an authoritarian BJP regime”.
In 2018 when there was India Govt App NAMO came, Rahul Gandhi wrote in his Twitter
“Modi misusing PM position to build personal database with data on millions of Indians via the NaMo App promoted by Govt. If as PM he wants to use tech to communicate with India, no problem. But use the official PMO APP for it. This data belongs to India, not Modi.”