Evolving unity vs dictatorship

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge with BRS MP K Keshava Rao, DMK MP TR Baalu, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and fellow Opp MPs on Thursday. Pic/PTI

Nineteen Opposition parties came together in a show of unity on Thursday and accused the Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session washed out, while asserting that if this attitude continues, the country will move towards a "dictatorship". In a boost to Opposition unity, the TMC, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the AAP and the Samajwadi Party, which had been blowing hot and cold on sharing stage with the Congress on earlier occasions, participated in the march and the presser to give a joint call against the government on issues such as the Adani matter, price rise and alleged attack on democracy.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Narendra Modi government of not walking the talk on democratic principles and causing disruptions in Parliament to divert attention from the Opposition's demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue. At the presser, Kharge said, "The budget of Rs 50-lakh crore was passed in just 12 minutes, but they (BJP) always alleged that the Opposition parties have no interest and they kept disturbing the House."

"The disturbance was created by the ruling party. Whenever we made a demand or gave a notice, we were not allowed to speak. This has happened for the first time in my public life of 52 years," he said. Kharge vowed that there will be unity going forward. "Our issues are to save the country and work for the unity of the country," he added. BRS MP K Keshava Rao said, "You have right before you all the Opposition parties who maintained some distance and had differences, but today you are seeing how it is evolving. We are becoming so strong that all the efforts to divide us have failed. We are today united right before you on the ground."

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Both Houses ended as scheduled on Thursday after a near washout of the second part of the budget session that began on March 13 due to protests by opposition and treasury benches. The productivity of the first part of the Budget Session was 56.3 per cent. For the second part it plummeted to an abysmal 6.4 per cent, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said.

Son joins BJP; ‘deeply pained', says Antony

Veteran Congress leader A K Antony's son Anil K Antony on Thursday joined the BJP in the presence of Union ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan in Delhi. He had quit the Congress after criticising its stand on the BBC's anti-Modi documentary film. The Congress accused Anil of "betraying his father on "Maundy Thursday". "Today (Maundy Thursday) is the day of Judas (Iscariot) who betrayed Jesus Christ for a payment of 30 silver coins. Many such things will happen on that day. This (Anil joining BJP) should also be seen as such an incident," KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said. "I am deeply pained by Anil's decision to join the BJP. It was a wrong decision," A K Antony said.

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