Opposition MPs Protest in Parliament Over Goa,Karnataka Crisis
NEW DELHI : : Opposition MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Communist Party of India held a protest in Parliament Complex, alleging that the political crises in Karnataka and Goa was a threat to democracy.
A number of top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Anand Sharma, protested near the Gandhi statue in the complex and shouted slogans. They also carried placards with messages like “Save Democracy” and “Stop bulldozing state governments”.
Hitting out at the BJP over defections in the states, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “This is an assault on Constitution and murder of democracy.”Is the BJP looking to make India a one-party state,” he asked. CPI’s D Raja, RJD’s Manoj Jha, TMC’s Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and Dola Sen, NCP’s Majid Memon and SP’s Azam Khan were also among the protestors. In Goa, the Congress suffered a serious setback on Wednesday as 10 of its 15 MLAs quit the party and joined the BJP.
The Congress leadership has blamed the saffron party for the desertions from its ranks in both the states. The Bjp has claimed that the Karnataka government has been reduced to a minority and has demanded Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s resignation. Sources also said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Kumaraswamy on Wednesday evening and proposed a joint protest.
Meanwhile,Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday attacked the BJP-ruled government over the political crisis in Karnataka and Goa, saying they have “gravely damaged” democracy and that the developments will hurt the economy.
The developments in Karnataka and Goa may help the BJP in “advancing their political goals”, but at the “same time they are doing a great disservice to the economic goals of this country”, the former finance minister said while participating in the debate on the Union Budget in Rajya Sabha.
“What we have seen in Karnataka, what we have seen in Goa may appear to be political one-upmanship, but I think it has a very damaging affect on the economy, foreign investors, rating agencies,” he said.
“In the last two days, they have gravely damaged democracy. More such incidents will completely damage the democratic framework of this country,” he said.The JDS-Congress government in Karnataka is in crisis following a spate of resignations of lawmakers from the ruling side.
Also, 10 of the 15 MLAs of the Congress in Goa assembly have split and joined the BJP, which is currently ruling the state.
At the outset of his nearly 30-minute speech, Mr Chidambaram said: “I am very unhappy democracy is suffering a blow everyday”. The Congress leader said international organisations do not watch “tamed” Indian television channels and asked the BJP to “respect democracy”.
“I condemn what is happening in Karnataka and Goa not because it is a political event alone, but because it has a very damaging impact on the economy,” he said. Earlier, another senior Congress leader Anand Sharma raised the issue of Karnataka and Goa, saying whatever was happening in the state was an “assault on democracy”.
(With Agency Inputs ).
