Amid the ongoing deadlock in Parliament over NEET-UG paper leak, ‘INDIA’ alliance leaders held a meeting at Rahul Gandhi’s residence. During this period heavy police force remained deployed. Opposition leaders reiterated their demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
New Delhi [भारत]July 23 (ANI): Amid the impasse in Parliament over the NEET-UG paper leak, several MPs from the ‘India’ block on Thursday reached the residence of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Police presence was increased outside Rahul Gandhi’s Sunehari Bagh Road residence. Rapid Action Force buses have also been deployed. Sunehri Bagh Road leads to Amit Shah’s residence on Krishna Bagh Road, and Kiren Rijiju’s residence is also nearby.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi, Congress MPs P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Renuka Chaudhary, Pramod Tiwari along with NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule and RJD MP Misa Bharti reached Gandhi’s residence. Suspended TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee and party leader Mahua Moitra, CPI MP P Santosh Kumar and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant also arrived to attend the meeting of opposition leaders.
Leaders targeted the government
Downplaying the importance of the meeting, Kharge told reporters, “(Rahul Gandhi) had invited us for tea. So I have come to have tea.” KC Venugopal hit out at the Center amid heavy police presence in the national capital following the cockroach Janata Party’s protest demanding resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “Emergency has been declared in entire Delhi. They are making it a war-like situation,” Venugopal said.
Congress MP Jothimani Sennimalai said, “He is the leader of the opposition. We are all his party’s MPs. We had come to meet him. But the government has fortified the entire area. I can understand their nervousness. We are meeting the leader of the opposition. But we can see the government’s fear.”
Congress MP and party’s Punjab chief Amarinder Singh Raja Wading said, “The enemy is very alert if we reveal our plan. Delhi Police, Amit Shah ji’s people have already come here. We will fight and we will win.”
Randeep Singh Surjewala demanded Pradhan’s resignation and said, “Resignation must happen.” RJD MP Manoj Jha expressed concern over the situation amid widespread protests across the country over the NEET-UG paper leak. Jha said, “Look at what is happening in Jantar Mantar and various states. There is a lot of unrest among the youth. In the coming moments you will know what we are doing. I am worried seeing the condition of the country.”
Renuka Chaudhary saw this meeting as a sign of unity among the parties of the ‘India’ block. “The entire ‘India’ block, we are fighting together on this issue,” he said.
Why is there a deadlock in Parliament?
The meeting is taking place amid the impasse in Parliament over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, where the opposition has moved Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and Rajya Sabha’s Rule 267 as a condition for the discussion. The Center has said it is ready to discuss the NEET controversy and related matters, and has asked the opposition not to put forward any conditions. Rule 267 allows an MP to seek suspension of business in the Upper House of Parliament.
There was a direct confrontation between NDA and ‘India’ block MPs inside the Parliament complex on Thursday, as both the parties demonstrated together on different issues at Makar Dwar. On July 21, opposition leaders had staged a protest on Lok Kalyan Marg near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. (ANI)
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