Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday slammed the Opposition for “insulting” President Droupadi Murmu repeatedly and condemned their reaction on President's address ahead of the budget session in the Parliament.
“Opposition insults President again and again. Their attitude is unfortunate and their reaction on President's address is condemnable. They should apologise,” Thakur was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He further said that opposition parties are incapable of discussing on the budget as it provides “something for all sections".
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“When they saw Budget has something for all sections, that it is transparent and inclusive, they became speechless…Instead of discussing the Budget, they are making noises,” he added.
On Opposition's allegation of the association of public sector giants, LIC and SBI, with Adani firms, Thakur said that they have responded to their allegations. “Why is the opposition running away from the discussion?” he asked.
The budget session in the Parliament was washed out for the second consecutive day as opposition parties demanded a discussion on Adani row.
{{/usCountry}}The budget session in the Parliament was washed out for the second consecutive day as opposition parties demanded a discussion on Adani row.
{{/usCountry}}Leaders of 16 opposition parties met on Friday morning to chalk out a common strategy and later submitted adjournment notices in both Houses to suspend other business and discuss the extent of exposure of State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to the Adani Group, which has seen market value north of $100 billion wiped out since American firm Hindenburg Research accused it of fraud.
“We want to participate in the debate and talk about SBI and LIC and who forced these two public sector enterprises to invest in Adani group,” a Congress MP said.
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The Opposition also criticised President Murmu's address ahead of the session and called it an “election speech for Modi”.
"The president doesn't contest elections but it looks like the BJP government is conducting its next campaign through her. The entire speech was an election speech trying to praise the government for everything it has done... and skipping over bits it hasn't done so well," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said earlier.