Praising the common man, Modi said the country is fighting a big battle against corruption and black money and the ordinary citizens are the frontline ‘soldiers’.
Parliament logjam entered the eighth day on Friday threatening total washout of the winter session as an adamant opposition shifted the goalpost, demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly referring to them as corrupt, favouring black money.
At book release function in Parliament Annexe on the occasion of Constitution Day, PM Modi spoke at length on demonetization and said,“Those who are criticising the demonetization don’t have problem with the government’s preparedness. Their problem is they didn’t get enough time to prepare... Had these people got 72 hours to make their preparation, they would have lavished praise that there is no one like Modi.”
Praising the common man, Modi said the country is fighting a big battle against corruption and black money and the ordinary citizens are the frontline ‘soldiers’.
Clutching at this portion of PM Modi’s speech, the opposition parties brought both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to a halt again.
Modi’s statement came a day after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described demonetization as a “monumental management failure” and a case of “organised loot, legalised plunder of the common people”
Without giving time to the Ministers to lay their papers on the table, BSP chief Mayawati raised the issue in the Upper House seeking apology from the PM.
“The Prime Minister has accused the opposition of hoarding black money. He should either prove it or tender apology to the entire House,” said Mayawati.
Her demand found an immediate echo in Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. “The kind of allegations Prime Minister has heaped on opposition at a book release function that all opposition parties are in favour of black money, he should apologise to the entire house. It’s an insult to the whole House, all MPs, and all political parties,” Azad said.
Soon most Opposition leaders – Naresh Agarwal of SP, Sharad Yadav of JD (U), Derek O’Brien of TMC, and others joined the chorus seeking apology from PM.
Unnerved treasury benches led by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that the opposition is trying to escape from the debate and how it could find fault with PM’s speech when he has hit out at the corrupt.
Chairman Hamid Ansari and deputy chairman P J Kurien failed to break the stalemate and kept adjourning before calling it a day at around 2:30 pm.
The opposition parties kept the heat in the Lower House as well that reverberated with demands for a JPC probe, PM’s presence and an apology by him. Unable to conduct any business, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the house for the day at 12:40 pm.
The battle continued outside the Parliament House as well.
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