"Cong, allies were looking for reason to boycott the winter session": Anurag Thakur
Dec 23, 2023
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 23 : Two days after the Winter Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die, Union Minister Anurag Thakur slammed opposition parties for politicising the suspension of MPs and said that the leaders of opposition parties were looking for a reason to boycott the session as the INDIA bloc performed poorly in the recently held assembly polls.
Notably, a total of 146 MPs--100 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha--were suspended in the Winter session for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses, for demanding a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah about the Parliament security breach incident.
Thakur also accused opposition leaders of not being serious about politics and making a mockery of themselves by mocking the Vice President of India.
"They (suspended MPs) are suspended because of the activities they have been involved in, which were barred by the Speaker on the first day. After the poor performance by the Congress and the alliance in the three states, their morale went down and they were looking for a reason to boycott the session," said Thakur.
"Rahul Gandhi was seen making a video of someone who was mimicking the Vice President of India. It shows they are not serious about politics and they have not only mocked the institution or the Vice President, but they are also making a mockery of themselves."
Earlier, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, in a scathing attack on Friday, said that opposition leaders themselves had said to suspend them.
While addressing a press briefing in the national capital, Joshi said, "They themselves came and said to suspend them. The Congress Party has such a low-level strategy."
On Thursday, after the conclusion of the 262nd Session of the Rajya Sabha, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he is pained to state that nearly 22 hours of the Upper House were lost due to avoidable disruptions.
"I am pained to state that nearly 22 hours were lost due to avoidable disruptions adversely impacting our overall productivity that finally stood at 79 percent. Weaponizing disruptions and disturbance as a political strategy doesn't resonate with our constitutional obligation of keeping the interest of people at large above any other political considerations," the Rajya Sabha Chairman said.
