As 18 opposition parties boycotted President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Friday that the boycott did not mean insulting the President and added that the opposition leaders would debate when there is a motion of thanks and debate.
The opposition parties on Thursday announced that they would boycott the address in order to express solidarity with the farmers who have been protesting against the Centre’s three new farm laws. They also demanded an independent investigation into the Centre’s role into the Republic Day tractor parade violence.
“Boycotting President’s Address doesn’t mean insulting him. We’re standing with farmers & demanding that farm laws be taken back. It’s our biggest reason behind boycotting the Address. We’ll debate when there is a Motion of Thanks and debate,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Backing the farm laws during his address to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, President Kovind said that these were passed after extensive deliberations and over 10 crore small farmers started benefitting immediately. However, the implementation of the laws has been postponed by the Supreme Court and the Centre would respect and follow the apex court’s decision, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Backing the farm laws during his address to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, President Kovind said that these were passed after extensive deliberations and over 10 crore small farmers started benefitting immediately. However, the implementation of the laws has been postponed by the Supreme Court and the Centre would respect and follow the apex court’s decision, he added.
{{/usCountry}}“These agricultural reforms started benefitting more than 10 crore small farmers immediately. Many political parties had given full support to these reforms from time to time only after realising these benefits to small farmers,” Kovind said adding that the Centre had decided to provide minimum support price (MSP) one-and-a-half times more than the cost, following the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. The President also pointed out that the Centre is providing new facilities and rights to the farmers under the new laws.
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Meanwhile, Union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi appealed to the opposition parties that boycotted his speech to respect the President’s office. He urged them to discuss the address and any other problem they had inside Parliament rather than protesting outside. “Let the left parties march to the parliament in protest, but after the protest, they should come to the house,” the minister said.