Cong Just Wanted to Make Noise: Amit Shah Over Parliament Logjam
PM Narendra Modi will observe a day-long fast in New Delhi on 12 April to protest against the Parliament logjam.
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Ministers Across the Country Will Fast Along With PM Modi
Addressing party MPs through an audio conference call ahead of the protest, PM Modi said the BJP leaders and its workers will observe a fast on 12 April to "expose" those handful of people who "throttled" democracy by stalling Parliament proceedings during the Budget session.
As per the schedule prepared by the BJP for observing the fast across the country, Union Health Minister JP Nadda will be in Modi's constituency Varanasi, while Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will travel to Patna for it, party sources said.
Many other ministers will travel to various places across the country to observe the fast.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will observe the fast in Chennai, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javdekar in Benguluru, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel in Tamil Nadu and Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. Tourism Minister KJ Alphons will observe the fast in Kerala.
The recently-concluded Budget session was the worst in terms of productivity in about a decade.
Last week, while speaking at the BJP's parliamentary party meeting, Modi had accused the Opposition, particularly the Congress, of practising divisive politics and stalling Parliament.
AP CM Chandrababu Naidu Questions PM's Move
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to observe a fast, alleging it was the Centre which ensured the disruption by provoking AIADMK over the Cauvery issue.
Referring to Modi’s day-long fast along with BJP MPs, he claimed the Centre did not constitute the Cauvery Management Board because of upcoming elections in Karnataka.
"They provoked the AIADMK and ensured that the MPs of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu storm the well of the Lok Sabha and thereby do not allow TDP to raise its demand (for grant of special category status to Andhra Pradesh),” he said.
Naidu, whose party recently snapped ties with the NDA, was addressing a meeting in connection with the birth anniversary celebrations of social activist Jyotirao Phule.
"A person of the stature of prime minister should stand by his word… should keep his word. It is not correct for him to provoke people of different states and foment hatred," he said in a hard-hitting speech.
Stating that Modi had made an election-eve promise in 2014 to eradicate corruption within one year, the TDP chief wanted to know what happened to it.
Tharoor Accuses BJP Of "Proxy Disruption" in Parliament
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and other BJP leaders' day-long fast, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "Modi had said four years ago that 'Na khaunga, na khane dunga', and it is good that he is not going to eat tomorrow." "Earlier, BJP's ally, was disrupting the house," he said, in an apparent reference to the TDP which had raised the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh in Parliament.
"When they sat down after 10 days, the AIADMK, which survives in Chennai only because of the support of the BJP, started protesting over the Cauvery issue. They are not opposition parties, they had never opposed the BJP so far," he said.
"The BJP wanted to avoid debate on no-confidence motion. Just to avoid the country listening to a debate on the failure of the government, they did not allow the debate," Tharoor alleged.
"Naturally, the government was going to win the vote (on no-confidence motion) but they did not even want to have a discussion on the allegations being levelled against them," he said.
It Is Only a Photo Opportunity: Congress
The Congress dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed hunger strike over the non-functioning of Parliament as a "photo-op", even as the party demanded sacking of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Unnao rape case.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the proposed fast by the BJP MPs led by the prime minister is a "drama", adding that time has come for the PM to take 'sanyas' (retirement).
"Prime Minister ji, it is not the time to observe fast, in view of your failures... it is time to take retirement instead. If you do not wake up now, you should understand that the time of your retirement will come in 2019 when people will vote you out," he said.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi earlier on 11 April hit out at the Centre over the alleged rape of an 18-year-old by a BJP MLA and the custodial death of her father in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.
PM Narendra Modi Will Fast but Won't Skip Defence Expo in Chennai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fast on Thursday, but that would not stop him from inaugurating a major defence exhibition near Chennai city that has been on edge due to protests over Cauvery water issue, a Union minister said on Wednesday.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters that she would also fast to protest the disruption of Parliament by the opposition during the just-concluded Budget session.
"I will be fasting. PM Modi is also fasting. Fasting is not going to stop him from coming here," Sitharaman said, after opening the DefExpo 2018 that showcases India's capability to manufacture arms and weapons platform systems.
Piyush Goyal Observes Fast in Thane
Union Minister Piyush Goyal who observed the day-long fast in Thane condemned the opposition for not letting the Budget session in Parliament progress.
Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Others Sit on Fast in Delhi
Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Menaka Gandhi and several others sat on fast at the Hanuman Mandir in Delhi’s Connaught Place.
Amit Shah Stages a 'Dharna' in Karnataka's Dharwad
BJP President Amit Shah staged a ‘dharna’ in Karnataka’s Dharwad, where he is campaigning for the upcoming state elections. State BJP President BS Yeddyurappa was also present with him.
BJP's Fast is a Farce: Jyotiraditya Scindia
Blaming the BJP for having created the deadlock in the Parliament over the PNVB scam, the Congress’ Jyotiradtya Scindia called the BJP’s day-long fast a ‘farce’.
Rupani, Other BJP Leaders Observe Fast in Gujarat
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and several BJP leaders, including MPs and MLAs, are observing a day-long fast today in parts of the state to protest against the recent washout of the Budget Session of Parliament.
Although Rupani was scheduled to sit on a 'symbolic fast' with other BJP leaders at Lal Darwaja area here between 11 am and 5 pm, he decided to observe the fast while working from Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad city BJP president Jagdish Panchal said.
Oppn Has No Alternative to Modi, Says a Fasting Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis observed fast in Mumbai along with other BJP MPs and MLAs, and hit out at the opposition saying it does not have any alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fadnavis, along with Lok Sabha members Poonam Mahajan (North Central Mumbai) and Paresh Rawal (Gujarat), local MLAs Parag Alavani, Amit Satam and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar sat on the day-long fast at the party office in suburban Vile Parle.
The chief minister said, "People know contradictions of the opposition parties. They can't stay together. What is the alternative to Modi in terms of policies, programmes and leadership? The opposition only wants power...(but) they don't have an alternative to Modi."
He said the Congress has no moral strength to face Parliament because when the Prime Minister counters it. "They have no face to show." He also alleged that most of the atrocities on Dalits took place during the Congress rule.
BJP Leaders Observing Fast Clash With CPI Workers in Vizag; 20 Held
BJP workers, led by Andhra Pradesh unit president K Hari Babu, observed a fast in Visakhapatnam on to protest the 'stalling' of Parliament by opposition parties.
Tension prevailed when some CPI workers picked up an argument with BJP leaders over the fast.
This led to a clash between the two sides, police said, adding, about 20 CPI workers were arrested Hari Babu alleged that the Telugu Desam Party was responsible for 'stalling' parliament proceedings.
#FastWithPMModi vs #UpvasKaJumla
In order to propagate their respective agendas on twitterverse, the IT cells of both the BJP and Congress seem to be working overtime.
From party functionaries to Union ministers, politicians from both the sides have been tweeting about the fast called by PM Narendra Modi. The only difference being their choice of hashtags: BJP's #FastWithPMModi and the Opposition's #UpvaskaJumla.
Congress Did Not Want Debate, Just Wanted to Make Noise: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah joined the nationwide protest against disruption of Parliament in Dharwad, Karnataka. Addressing BJP workers Shah said, “Congress knew very well that they can not debate in any of the House so they did not let the Parliament function.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 April observed a day-long fast against the Parliament logjam during the Budget session, while top BJP leaders, including Union ministers, carried out similar protests across the country.
The ruling BJP has blamed the opposition, led by the Congress party, for the washout of the recently-concluded Budget session.
- Congress calls the hunger strike a “photo-op”
- Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu questions the Prime Minister’s move
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Published: 11 Apr 2018,01:49 AM IST