Cornering the government over demonetisation as the debate on Motion of Thanks to President's address resumed in both Houses on Monday, the Opposition said the Presidential address ignored several inconvenient facts.
The Lok Sabha saw sparks flying as Congress' floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge targeted the BJP, saying several people from his party laid down their lives for the nation, while none from the BJP did. This drew sharp reaction from the treasury benches who sought an apology from him. Kharge.
Opposition leaders, across party lines, and even National Democratic Alliance (NDA) member Shiv Sena were critical of demonetisation.
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy compared President Pranab Mukherjee's address to Parliament to Om Puri movie "Ardh Satya", saying it ignored half the issues confronting the country.
Kharge said the Prime Minister should apologise to the nation for the deaths that occurred due to demonetisation. He said around 125 people have died in queues post demonetisation.
During the course of Kharge's nearly-two-hour-long speech, members from the treasury benches sparred with the Congress members several times, as Kharge launched an attack on the government.
The long speech also forced Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to ask him to conclude repeatedly, with one of the ruling party members even quoting a rule to urge Mahajan to force him to stop.
The Congress leader also slammed the government over its repeated allegation that the Congress governments did not do anything for 70 years, and said: "We protected the Constitution. If Modi came from a poor family and became the Prime Minister, the credit goes to the Congress, which kept democracy alive".
"I think you brought Green Revolution. And White Revolution in your Gujarat also came in your time... (Verghese) Kurien was also born in these times -- everything happened in the last two and half years," Kharge said sarcastically, as Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, who started the debate, had blamed the Congress for being unable to eradicate poverty in 70 years.
Backing demonetisation, Sharma said: "The move was against counterfeit currency, terrorism, Naxals (Maoists), but the opposition appeared to be standing with them. The whole nation welcomed it, but opposition did not."
In the Rajya Sabha, opposition parties criticised the government for allegedly ignoring the poor and weaker sections of the society, saying its promise of inclusive development was hollow.
Resuming the debate on the Presidential address, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said the address had "nothing new in it".
Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said 'scam' could be an acronym for Scheduled Castes And Minorities and that the BJP government working against 'scams' means it is working against these sections.
He also expressed concern over "widening inequalities", saying in 2014, one per cent of people in the country held 49 per cent of the total wealth, but in 2016, these one per cent now held 58.4 per cent.
Slamming the note ban, Yechury said that if anything, demonetisation infused fresh blood in the banks that were on the verge of collapse due to bad debts.
"The government is doing nothing to recover these bad debts. If a farmers defaults on loan you confiscate his cattle and other belongings. But why no action against the rich?" he said.
Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal-United also slammed the government over demonetisation, saying lakhs of farmers had suffered because of it and demanded it must inform the nation how much unaccounted money was recovered.
He said social disparity was a cause of concern and it must be addressed "before it's too late".
"Unless and until poor, farmers, SCs, STs and other backward classes are given their dues, the country cannot progress", he said.
--IANS
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