Opposition MPs walk out of Lok Sabha.
OPPOSITION PARTIES have given notices for discussions next week on the fallout of demonetisation and implementation of GST, as well as agrarian crises and farmer suicides.
In a coordinated action, notices have been submitted by several parties, including the Congress, TMC, JD(U) and the SP on both issues. A leader from one opposition party said, “We want both subjects to be taken up next week.” Others who are part of the Opposition caucus are NCP, CPI, CPI(M), RJD, BSP, Kerala Mani Congress, JMM and AIUML.
In the first joint strategy meeting of the current session earlier this week, the opposition parties zeroed in on six issues on which to corner the government in the monsoon session. These are mob lynchings, the standoff with China at Doklam, farmers’ suicides, terror attack on Amarnath yatris, the use of CBI and ED to crack down on Opposition leaders, and the effect of GST and demonetisation. Over Wednesday and Thursday a discussion took place in the Upper House on lynchings and atrocities against people from Dalit and minority communities.
While the parties have already forced several adjournments of both Houses on these issues, there is a concerted effort by all parties to put up a united front in the House this session. MPs across parties are supporting each other in a more visible way.
On Thursday, for instance, as the discussion on the lynchings was on, Trinamool leader in Upper House Derek O’Brien went around the Opposition benches with the notices and got them signed by Sharad Yadav of JD(U) and Ramgopal Yadav of SP.
The parties staged a collective walkout when HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar invoked the 1984 Sikh riots and Godhra train burning incident in his defence of the government. After Congress MP Kumari Selja finished her speech, O’Brien flagged her a thumb-up, and when Sharad Yadav was asked to wind up his speech, Ramgopal Yadav and Anand Sharma (Congress) urged the Chair to let him continue.
