16 Opposition parties to boycott President's address on January 29

Sixteen political parties have decided to boycott President Ram Nath Kovinds address to a joint session of Parliament on January 29 on the issue of farm lawsLeader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said The only issue of the boycott is farm laws and 16 parties have decided to jointly boycott the AddressThe joint statement said Indias farmers have been collectively fighting against the three farm laws arbitrarily imposed by the BJP government that threatens the future of the Indian Agriculture which sustains over 60 per cent of Indias population and the livelihood of crores of farmers sharecroppers and farm labourLakhs of farmers have been agitating at the gates of the National Capital of Delhi braving biting cold and heavy rain for the last 64 days for their rights and justice Over 155 farmers have lost their lives The Government remains unmoved and has responded with water cannons tear gas and lathicharges the statement saidIt added Every effort has been made to discredit a legitimate mass movement through a government sponsored disinformation campaign The protest and the agitation has been largely peacefulUnfortunately there were a few acts of violence on January 26 2021 in the National Capital of Delhi which was condemned universally and unequivocallyWe also express our sadness over the injuries sustained by Delhi Police personnel while handling the difficult situation But we believe that an impartial investigation will reveal the Central Governments nefarious role in orchestrating those events The three Farm Laws are an assault on the rights of the states and violate the federal spirit of the Constitution said the statementIf not repealed these Laws will effectively dismantle the edifice of National Food Security that rests upon MSP government procurement and Public Distribution System PDSThe farm bills were brought without any consultations with states and farmer unions and lacked national consensus Parliamentary scrutiny was bypassed and the Laws were pushed through muzzling the Opposition in brazen violation of Parliamentary rules practices and conventionsThe very constitutional validity of these laws remains in question The Prime Minister and the BJP Government remain arrogant adamant and undemocratic in their response Shocked by this insensitivity of the government the following opposition political parties reaffirming the collective demand for the repeal of the anti farmer laws and in solidarity with the Indian farmers have decided to boycott the Presidents address to both the Houses of Parliament on Friday January 29 2021The opposition parties include the Congress Nationalist Congress Party NCP CPIM CPI RSP Kerala CongressM Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD All India United Democratic Front AIUDF DMK Jammu Kashmir National Conference JKNC Trinamool Congress TMC Indian Union Muslim League IUML Samajwadi Party Shiv Sena MDMK and Peoples Democratic Party PDPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever