Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday dubbed the opposition INDIA bloc as a set of leaders facing corruption charges with no common ideology or a political programme.
Thakur, speaking to reporters here, also said the opposition coalition disrupted the Winter session of Parliament that concluded on Thursday out of frustration of their defeat in the recently held assembly elections.
The senior BJP leader's remarks came a day after the INDIA alliance held nationwide demonstrations against the suspension of 146 MPs during the Winter session for unruly behaviour in demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach on December 13. "Where is the alliance? They are struggling in Punjab, they are struggling in other states. They can't speak in one voice. They are a set of people facing corruption charges and have come together," Thakur, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, said.
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"They do not have a common ideology, they do not have a common minimum programme or a common candidate. There is no INDI Alliance," Thakur said. On the suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament, the minister said they were suspended for the activities which were "barred by the Speaker". Thakur said all political parties had agreed that they would not bring placards inside the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers in the new Parliament building.
"When we entered the new Parliament House, the Speaker requested everyone to start with new traditions. Nobody should enter the well, nobody should tear papers and throw it at the chair, and no placards shall be brought inside the chamber," Thakur said. The minister also said that the opposition leaders were demoralised after the election results in the three states and had decided to disrupt Parliament.
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"After the poor performance by the Congress in the three elections, they were demotivated and demoralised and they were looking for a reason to boycott the session," he said. Thakur said the opposition should have participated in debates on various important issues concerning the common man.
"But, they have nothing to do with the common man. The Congress never wanted the session to progress, never wanted to participate," he aded.
