Angered over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the Parliament, Congress on Saturday sought to make “PM-mukt Parliament” a major issue and signalled that it would take it up aggressively in t
Angered over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the Parliament, Congress on Saturday sought to make “PM-mukt Parliament” a major issue and signalled that it would take it up aggressively in the winter session. “Monsoon Session of Parliament is over. We discussed many serious issues. But the Prime Minister was absent during many of these discussions,” Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal said. The LS and the RS discussed issues like unrest and violence in Kashmir and dalit atrocities but the Prime Minister was absent during these discussions.
Earlier too, when the Parliament had debates on Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and on the role of governors, the Prime Minister was not there,” he said. “We have a PM-mukt Parliament. It is a sad state of affairs. He says he respects the Constitution, but doesn’t attend it,” Mr Sibal added.
“We will raise this issue in the next session. Why doesn’t the PM come to the Parliament It is because he is afraid. We want him to remain the nation’s watchman and provide the nation with answers,” he said.
Alleging that the Prime Minister was “not in the habit” of answering questions posed to him, Mr Sibal said Mr Modi did the same thing even when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. The PM likes to address rallies and meetings as one does not have to answer to crowds. “But in the Parliament, you have to answer the opposition .... In a crowd, no one will question him. But in the Parliament, the Opposition will,” he said.
Earlier this week, the party in a commentary had taken potshots at the Prime Minister over his “absence” from the Parliament, saying: “India has been forced to come to terms with a PM-mukt Parliament.
“When PM Modi assumed office, he had said that the Parliament is a temple of democracy and he kowtowed before entering the august building for the first time. A year into his term, on one of his numerous trips to the USA, he said that the Constitution is the only holy book for his government.
“But today India has been forced to come to terms with a ‘PM-mukt Parliament.’ PM Modi’s actions show his disdain for the Parliament and its affairs,” the party said, targeting Modi by using a parody of his call for ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ that he had made during the Lok Sabha poll campaign.
The Congress alleged that the Prime Minister loves to speak, “unfortunately not in the national interest, but for vote bank politics.”
