In a rare display of unity, Opposition parties took out a joint flag march on Thursday, accusing the ruling party of disrupting Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge — who was accompanied by leaders from 19 other Opposition parties — said the country was heading towards “dictatorship” and “democracy will not survive” if the ruling party’s actions were allowed to continue.
With the Tricolour in hand, nearly 100 MPs belonging to 20 Opposition parties marched from Parliament to Vijay Chowk, some 200 metres away. Mr. Kharge was accompanied by Keshav Rao (BRS), T.R. Baalu (DMK), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Manoj K. Jha (RJD) and several others. The Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party that have been keeping a distance from the Congress also shared the stage. The CPI, the CPI(M), the JD(U), the JMM, the IUML, the RLD, the NCP, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), Kerala Congress (Mani), the MDMK and the VCK were also represented.
Mr. Kharge said that BJP members deliberately disrupted the House because they did not want a comprehensive debate on the Budget, where uncomfortable questions on the wealth amassed by the Adani Group because of the favours it got from the government could have been asked.
Watch | What is the Adani-Hindenburg saga all about?
“The Budget of ₹50 lakh crore was passed in just 12 minutes, but they (BJP) always alleged that the Opposition parties have no interest in debate and they kept disturbing the House,” Mr. Kharge said, adding that none of the Opposition members were allowed to speak. “This has happened for the first time in my public life of 52 years,” he said.
The Modi-government, he said, talked a lot about democracy, but did not practise what it preached. Mr. Kharge also spoke about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, connecting the alacrity with which the Lok Sabha Secretariat acted in his case to the probing questions Mr. Gandhi asked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s relationship with industralist Gautam Adani.
DMK leader T.R. Baalu fielded the question on whether Mr. Gandhi could be the prime challenger on behalf of the united Opposition to Mr. Modi. “It was because of the government’s hegemonic attitude they disrupted the House. First time treasury benches disrupted proceedings,” he said, ducking the question. Mr. Baalu said that all issues would be discussed going forward to strengthen the Opposition. At this, BRS MP K. Keshava Rao was quick to interject, pointing out that the parties on the podium had “distance and differences”.
Mr. 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 on the ground. What happens tomorrow, please let us leave it because we are working to see how we come together,” he said. Mr. Rao also berated reporters asking them to let go of their “obsession” with the leadership issue. “A nation will certainly be led by a person, led by a combination of ideologies and the programmes. What we are trying to do is to see that kind of programme is on the board, that we are all on the same page.”
Sanjay Singh of AAP spoke forcefully on Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification, agreeing with Mr. Kharge’s remarks that he was disqualified because of the questions he asked on the Adani Group. “This government is Adani’s servant. We are can ask questions on Prime Minister and his Cabinet but we can not question their overlord,” he said.
