It is nothing more than a farce

Due to the non- serious and dictatorial attitude of the ruling party, over 200 important hours of Parliament have been lost. No serious attempt was made by the government to end the logjam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is diverting the people’s attention from his inability to resolve contentious issues with a day- long fast on April 12. This is ridiculous and an attempt to run away from crucial issues raised by the Opposition in the just- concluded Parliament session.

The TDP pulled out of the NDA in March over the Centre’s refusal to grant special category status ( SCS) to Andhra Pradesh after 14th Finance Commission removed the SCS concept. The atmosphere of protests in the country was because of the BJP’s ideology “to divide the country and crush dalits, tribals and minorities”. The Congress wanted to debate issues such as the PNB scam, CBSE paper leak, alleged dilution of SC/ ST Act, special status to Andhra Pradesh and setting up of the Cauvery water management board.

We won’t allow the politics of hatred and division aimed at garnering votes to succeed. The entire country knows that Mr Modi is anti- dalit. The BJP follows the ideology of oppressing dalits, tribals and minorities. The Congress will stand against it and defeat the BJP in 2019 general election. Even the BJP’s dalit MPs say that Mr Modi is “casteist”.

To divert the people’s attention, Mr Modi and his team is staging a political drama of a one- day fast.

It’s an irony for the country that Mr Modi is calling ruling party MPs to hold a day- long fast to protest against the disruption of parliamentary proceedings by Opposition parties. In a parliamentary democracy, it is the responsibility of the ruling party and its leadership to ensure the smooth functioning of Parliament, but the Modi government, instead of doing this, is blaming others for its failure.

Instead of keeping a fast, and blaming the Opposition for disruption in both Houses of Parliament, Mr Modi must explain to the people why he ran away from a discussion or tried to silence voices raised against it.

Due to the non- serious and dictatorial attitude of the ruling party, over 200 important hours of Parliament have been lost. No serious attempt was made by the government to end the logjam.

Knowing its role as the main Opposition party, the Congress wants to discuss and deliberate important issues. It wants to discuss the details of the Rafale deal, but the government deliberately avoided it by not allowing Parliament to function.

To avoid a discussion on any subject of public interest, the government secretly promoted the disruption of the second half of the Budget Session, which also passed the crucial Finance Bill without any discussion. The Modi government should be ashamed of disrespecting Parliament and killing the voices of the Opposition in both the Houses.

It’s the ruling party’s own allies that did not allow Parliament to function. The government did not pay any attention to the demands of its allies.

Why is Mr Modi and his party observing a fast? Will they tell the people that they intentionally avoided a discussion on the floor of the House, which may have exposed their failure or misgovernance? The PM’s fast is nothing more than a farce. The PM should instead apologise to the youth, dalits and other sections of society who have been let down by his government.