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Constitution, NEET on Opposition’s agenda in Parliament

Jun 25, 2024 07:06 AM IST

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Monday started off its fresh spell in Parliament by holding up copies of the Constitution and asserting that it will raise people’s issues, as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being “psychologically on the back foot” and trying to “save his government”.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Monday started off its fresh spell in Parliament by holding up copies of the Constitution and asserting that it will raise people’s issues, as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being “psychologically on the back foot” and trying to “save his government”.

Constitution, NEET on Opposition’s agenda in Parliament
Constitution, NEET on Opposition’s agenda in Parliament

As the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha started with the oath-taking of the newly-elected members, top leaders from the combative Opposition, including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, listed key issues to set the Opposition’s agenda for the House session and said it will “not allow the Prime Minister to escape without accountability”.

Members of the INDIA bloc, including Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, also staged a protest with pocket-sized copies of the Constitution – one widely used by them while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections – at the spot where the iconic statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament premises earlier stood. They then marched to the Lok Sabha chamber.

“The attack on the Constitution by the PM and (Union home minister) Amit Shah is not acceptable to us. We will not allow it. No power on earth can change the Constitution,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters in Parliament complex.

Opposition parties in the past have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to “completely dismantle” the Constitution, even as the ruling party dismissed the claim.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Modi and questioned his “silence” over the controversy surrounding this year’s National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), the recent train accident in West Bengal where 10 people were killed and on Manipur that has been in the grip of violence since May last year.

After Modi’s customary address to the media before the start of the Parliament session, Kharge, in a post on X, said: “The country was hoping Modi ji would say something on important issues. He will show some sympathy towards the youth regarding paper leak in NEET and other entrance exams, but he will not take any responsibility for the rigging and corruption of his government.”

The chaos over NEET-UG – India’s premier medical entrance examination – amid allegations of paper leaks and irregularities has sparked sweeping protests across India, with opposition parties demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.

“Modi ji also remained silent about the recent train accident in West Bengal”, Kharge said, referring to the Kanchanjunga Express train accident in north Bengal on May 17, in which 10 people were killed.

“Manipur has been in the grip of violence for the last 13 months, but Modi ji neither went there nor did he express any concern about the recent violence in his speech today. There are floods in Assam and the Northeast, backbreaking inflation, falling rupee, exit poll-stock market scam; The Modi government has kept the next census pending for a long time; Modi ji was completely silent on the caste census as well,” Kharge said.

Rahul also later posted about a series of incidents, which, he said, marked the first 15 days of the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

“1. Horrific train accident, 2.Terrorist attacks in Kashmir 3. The plight of passengers in trains 4. NEET scam 5. NEET PG cancelled 6. UGC NET paper leak 7. Milk, pulses, gas, toll and expensive 8. Forests blazing with fire 9. Water crisis 10. Deaths due to lack of arrangements during heatwave. Psychologically on the backfoot, Narendra Modi is busy saving his government,” the lawmaker from Rae Bareli said.

“The attack on the Constitution by Narendra Modi and his government is not acceptable to us – and we will not allow this to happen under any circumstances. INDIA’s strong opposition will continue its pressure, raise the voice of the people, and will not allow the Prime Minister to escape without accountability,” he added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the BJP over the NEET exam chaos. Leaking examination papers is an “old habit of the BJP”, he said. “They do it for their own people. It was a big issue in Uttar Pradesh earlier, now it has reached Delhi,” he said.

While opposition parties have said that the NEET controversy will “reverberate inside Parliament as well”, they may have to wait till Friday for the debate on the President’s speech to start raising issues. The administering of oath to the newly-elected MPs is expected to continue on Tuesday and the election of the new Speaker is scheduled for Wednesday. President Droupadi Murmu will address the first joint sitting of the two Houses on Thursday.

During their protest, INDIA bloc members chanted slogans such as “who will save the Constitution? We will”. As Yadav and his party lawmakers carried larger copies of the Constitution, Sonia Gandhi quipped: “You also have a large number of MPs.”

In the Lok Sabha elections, the SP emerged as the single-largest party in Uttar Pradesh with 37 seats, ahead of the BJP’s 33.

The NDA leaders criticised the opposition MPs for taking out the “Save Constitution” march to Lok Sabha, saying they should now consider how to take the country on the path of progress, ending political matters as the elections are over.

Union minister and BJP lawmaker SP Singh Baghel said the country will run according to rules and laws, not “mobocracy”. “We are committed to our country and the Constitution,” he told PTI.

“It was not right to do such politics, make such comments and create such an atmosphere on a day when everyone (newly elected MPs) would like to take oath in a good atmosphere,” TDP MP and Union minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu told the news agency.

Owing to a resurgent Opposition that had grown in strength, the BJP is expected to face challenges in the passage of bills that will be tabled in the course of the 18th Lok Sabha.

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