After a day’s protest, the Rajya Sabha started discussion on a motion to thank President Ram Nath Kovind for addressing a joint session of Parliament. In the Lok Sabha, too, the debate was held without any disruptions. The Opposition in Rajya Sabha has moved about 477 amendments to the motion, moved by BJP leader Bhupender Yadav.
While the BJP speakers tried not to mention anything on the economic situation and focused on issues such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and ongoing protests, Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad painted a grim picture of the economy, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, who supported the motion, hailed the direct transfer of benefits, the GST and the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff as major administrative reforms, and added that BJP is a party that fulfils the promises made to the people.
Taking cue from this statement, Azad lashed out at the BJP for not fulfilling the promise of ten crore jobs in five years and ₹15 lakh for everyone. “If you can do everything what you say, then why these promises are not met? On the other hand, whatever you did was to deviate people’s attention from promises such as ending the price rise and generating ten crore jobs. For this purpose, you have brought a lot of disruptive issues on the table,” Azad said and warned the Centre that the country will become a Shaheen Bagh if only disruptive issues are discussed. “No discussion on the GDP, no discussion on slump in industrial growth, no discussion on the agrarian crisis and price rise or the nosediving value of rupees,” Azad said.
He said the Centre divided Jammu and Kashmir in a deceptive manner. He criticised the BJP’s campaign that women, Dalits, tribal people and poor people were suffering because of Article 370. “Out of the 114 parametres surveyed by the Centre on social development, Jammu and Kashmir is better off than the national average in at least 80 indicators. But Gujarat is above the national average just in 52 areas. So Gujarat is a fit case for President’s rule than Jammu and Kashmir,” Azad said. He demanded immediate release of political prisoners in the State and asked the Centre to revoke the Union Territory status of the State.
Yadav said Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh have addressed agitations at Shaheen Bagh and added that the Opposition party is giving moral support to the protests.
‘You will be exposed’
Tharoor said in Lok Sabha that it was appalling and distressing to see that the Centre made the President selectively quote the Mahatma Gandhi in an attempt to legitimise their desecration of the very national unity Gandhi-ji gave his life for. “If the government continues down this very slippery slope, no matter how many leaders from history you borrow or whose names have been hijacked by you, you will be exposed and history will see you for what you really are — men of straw with limited vision, unable to comprehend the great, diverse, united society you are meant to govern, not divide and break up,” he said.