Parliament not meant to be monument but should be 'alive': Congress

Parliament was being paralysed by design while its new building was being celebrated the Congress said on Wednesday and asked the government to worry about making Parliament alive and not turn it into a monumentCongress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said Parliament is meant not just for passage of government bills but also for the Opposition to raise public issues and fix accountability of the governmentDemocracy is shrinking in the largest democracy of the world and magnificent buildings new buildings are coming up I have not seen any major democracy in the world obsessed with a new building of ParliamentParliament does not function and you are celebrating the building and are not worried that it is not meant to be a monument but it should be alive he told reportersHe claimed that the overall state of affairs in the country is not good as there is a dysfunctional Parliamentary democracy which has been undermined pulverised paralysed by design not by defaultAlso Read AAP says false cases filed against Manish Sisodia stages protestIn a democracy Sharma said it is the constitutional duty of the government to ensure that Parliament functionsThe Congress leader said the government has questions to answer and it must not run away from the ground reality as he referred to the state of the Indian economy and the unemployment levelHe said there have been heavy job losses in three important sectors in March itself construction manufacturing and retail and asked whether the country was moving backwardsIf you have to listen to the finance minister or the propaganda machinery of the government it looks like everything is fine and there is nothing wrong the senior Congress leader saidIt is high time those questions are asked It is not a question of routine criticism there are issues which have found resonance of concern nationally and globally he notedSharma parried questions on whether opposition parties would come together saying I dont speculate on a speculative questionIndividuals we are not discussing Principle we are discussing We have taken a principled position as the principal opposition party of the country as a party which has a long history of leading the freedom movement and governing India building this country for decades to respond to the challenges of today he saidTargeting the BJP he said that at the peak of popularity they have 37 per cent of the national vote as 63 per cent of India voted against themCiting the example of his home state Himachal Pradesh he said The devbhoomi has sent a message that the BJP can be defeatedThe former union minister said the Opposition realises that they have to come together and they are doing so as there is no other optionChange is a must in this country Change is the need of the people of India Whatever maybe the propaganda 2023 is not going to be a good year for the BJP The rest will happen in 2024Sharma claimed that the BJP is in for a defeat in Karnataka and after that you will see the three other states where they will be defeatedTo a question about Congressruled Rajasthan where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot are locked in a power tussle he said the party has taken a very clear viewWe have a popular government and a chief minister who is delivering If you look at the policies they have gone down very well with the people of Rajasthan he saidThis 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