Not letting Shah speak is murder of democracy: BJP

Asking the Congress to clear its stand on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the country, the BJP on Wednesday accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of “murdering democracy” by not allowing its president Amit Shah speak in Parliament on the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told a Press conference that the TMC is nervous due to the growing strength of the BJP in West Bengal.

Javadekar also asked the Congress and its former president Sonia Gandhi to make their stand clear on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the country.

The Minister lashed out at the Opposition after its members began protesting when Shah rose to speak in the Rajya Sabha, forcing its adjournment for the day.

They had created a ruckus on Tuesday as well when Shah said the BJP Government had the courage to implement the Supreme Court’s decision on the NRC while the previous Congress dispensations lacked it. “They deliberately raised objections to prevent Shah from completing his speech. It is murder of democracy to prevent a member of the House from speaking,” Javadekar told reporters.

The Assam Accord to identify illegal immigrants was designed by then Prime Minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi, he said, adding Shah only asserted that the BJP was implementing the NRC, which was the “soul” of the accord.

Javadekar claimed even former PM Indira Gandhi had said the Bangladeshis should return to their country after the situation there normalised following the India-Pakistan war in 1971. “We now want to ask about the stand of Sonia Gandhi on the NRC and on evicting infiltrators from the country,” the Minister said.