New Delhi: As many as 18 Opposition parties, led by the Congress, on Thursday announced their decision to boycott President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session on Friday in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the three farm laws.
While 16 opposition parties issued a joint statement announcing their decision to boycott the president’s address, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also separately announced their decision to boycott the address.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said 16 opposition parties have jointly taken the decision to boycott the president’s address and have also demanded an independent probe into the Centre’s role in the violence that shook the national capital during the farmers’ tractor parade on Republic Day. The opposition parties have sought a repeal of the three farm laws and criticised the Centre for remaining unresponsive to the demands of the farmers protesting against these legislations.
The parties that have jointly announced that they will boycott the president’s address on Friday are the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the National Conference, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the CPI, the Indian Union Muslim League, the RSP, the People’s Democratic Party, the MDMK, the Kerala Congress (M) and the All India United Democratic Front.
‘The prime minister and the BJP government remain arrogant, adamant and undemocratic in their response. Shocked by this insensitivity of the government, the Opposition political parties, reaffirming the collective demand for the repeal of the anti-farmer laws and in solidarity with the Indian farmers, have decided to boycott the president’s address to both the houses of Parliament on Friday, January 29, 2021,’ a joint statement issued by various parties said.
Releasing the statement, senior Congress leader Azad, along with Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma and the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha K Suresh, said farmers have been collectively fighting against the three farm laws ‘arbitrarily imposed by the BJP government’.
Comments are closed.