16 Opp. parties will boycott Prez speech over farm laws

The leaders of 16 Opposition parties said Thursday they will boycott President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to both Houses of Parliament on the opening day of the Budget Session on Friday over the controversial farm laws.

The 16 parties include the Congress, Trinamul Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK and Samajwadi Party. The remaining 10 parties are the National Conference, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, PDP, Muslim League, RSP, MDMK, Kerala Congress and AIDUF.

Announcing the decision, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the 16 parties also sought an independent probe into the Centre’s role in the violence that shook the nation’s capital on Republic Day. They also condemned the violence and expressed regret for the injuries sustained by Delhi police personnel during the violent clashes on January 26, when groups of protesters reached the Red Fort.

In a joint statement, the Opposition leaders said the farm laws were an assault on state governments and violated the spirit of the Constitution. It said: “If not repealed, these laws will effectively dismantle the edifice of national food security that rests upon MSP, government procurement and the public distribution system. The farm bills were brought without any consultations with states and farmers’ unions and lacked a national consensus. Parliamentary scrutiny was bypassed and laws were pushed through muzzling the Opposition, in brazen violation of parliamentary rules, practices and conventions. The very constitutional validity of these laws remains in question.”

The joint statement noted that while lakhs of farmers were peacefully protesting at Delhi’s border for 64 days and 155 farmers had died due to the cold and rain, the government didn’t budge from its position.

Attacking the Centre, the joint statement said: “The Prime Minister and the BJP government remain arrogant, adamant and undemocratic in their response. Shocked by this

■ Continued from Page 1 insensitivity of the government, we, the following Opposition parties, reaffirming the collective demand for the repeal of the anti-farmer laws and in solidarity with Indian farmers, have decided to boycott the President’s address to both Houses of Parli-ament on Friday, January 29.”

The signatories include Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Derek O’Brien (Trinamul Congress), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), T.R. Baalu (DMK), Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Manoj Jha (RJD), Binoy Viswam (CPI), E. Kareem (CPI-M), N.K. Premachandran (RSP), Nazir Ahmed Laway (PDP) and Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF), among others.