Opposition parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Saturday opposing the BJP government’s white paper on the economy, with the CPI(M) also refusing to participate in the Ram Temple discussion in the House of Representatives.
The left-wing party said it will not become a “party that wants to communalize the political situation.”
Both Houses of Parliament – the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha – are holding a discussion on “the construction of the historic Shri Ram Temple and Pran Pratishtha of Shri Ramlala”.
Members of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were among those who walked out over the white paper brought by the government in Parliament to compare the state of the economy during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regimes.
Participating in the discussion on the white paper in the Rajya Sabha, CPI(M) member John Brittas said, “In protest against the discrimination shown to Kerala, we are walking away. “We are also not a party to communalize the political situation,” he says. said on the discussion on Ram temple, which will be held next on the white paper.
“This is not a white paper. This is an election document. Selective amnesia and cherry picking. Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) has said that 2004-2009 was a good period but she gave the credit to the previous (NDA) government. Strangely enough, ”said the leader of the Left party.
Isn’t it a fact that the Left supported the first UPA government which took important decisions and changes like making education a fundamental right, enacting the Right to Information Act, making employment a right through the MGNREGA and guaranteeing the right to food security, Brittas? said.
“Recently, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) praised Dr. Manmohan Singh, whom he had earlier ridiculed by calling ‘maun’ (silent). The Finance Minister puts a black paper on Manmohan Singh. Tomorrow this government would be giving a Bharat Ratna to Dr. Manmohan Singh and say that Sonia Gandhi denied him the Bharat Ratna, he said.
Brittas said the Finance Minister has spoken of “plenty for Kerala”. “There were partial truths that confused people,” he said.
Talking about a reduction in transfer of funds for Kerala, Finance Minister Sitharaman intervened and said, “I would like to speak out of turn because you are leaving. You will not be here to listen to my answer.”
“I would like to say now… that many of the things he says embellish his speech, but words I have not used. So I will still take liberty in my answer if the honorable member will not be here. But it I am sorry that he takes liberty with my words,” she said.
To this, Brittas said, “She can give an answer and I can go to the record and watch. I’ll see the video.”
DMK member Tiruchi Siva claimed that 700 farmers were killed during the agitation against the farm laws which were later repealed by the government. Hundreds of people died in front of banks queuing up to exchange notes during the demonetization period, he claimed.
He also brought to the attention of the House the plight of migrant workers during the Covid lockdown.
Drawing the attention of the Rajya Sabha, Siva alleged that no attention was being paid to Tamil Nadu regarding funds to provide relief to people after the Chennai floods.
He announced he was walking out of the House, but his microphone was turned off before he could finish his sentence.
TMC MP Saket Gokhale said, “On behalf of my party, Trinamool Congress, we reject this white paper, which not only insults the collective intelligence of Parliament but also seeks to deceive and fool the people of India.”
He said: “As a proud and self-respecting Member of Parliament… I refuse to participate further in this charade… with the promise that the people of India will give a befitting response to the lies in this White Paper and to the Modi government .in the upcoming (Lok Sabha) elections. I and my party will now leave the House in protest.”
BJD MP Dr Amar Patnaik also participated in the discussion on the demand for more funds to be transferred to Odisha.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: February 10, 2024 | 4:02 pm IST
