New Delhi: An incensed opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday accused the government of acting with "brute majority' and ignoring the House after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a statement on Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's controversial remarks in the Rajay Sabha.
In the afternoon, mostly all opposition lawmakers in the Lok Sabha walked out, alleging that their mics had been switched off to censor their comments against the government.
Leader of the main opposition Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said the opposition parties were "boycotting" Lok Sabha proceedings and demanded that Modi give a statement in the House.
"We want to know the views of the Prime Minister in the House, whether he supports the statement of the Minister (Niranjan Jyoti) and what is his opinion about such comments... whether he condemns the comment. "We have been asking for a statement from the Prime Minister for the past 2-3 days, but he is not giving any statement. They (government) think they have brute majority in the house and whatever they do will be fine. This is not good for democracy," Kharge, along with opposition MPs from TMC, AAP, SP, Muslim League, told reporters outside the House.
He added that if the government will act under the influence of "brute majority" and do whatever it wants, then that will be unacceptable. "We all have decided to boycott and not participate in the proceedings of the House today," he said. AAP leader Bhagwant Mann said that the Prime Minister gave a statement in the Rajya Sabha since the government does not enjoy majority there but ignored Lok Sabha because of its numbers in the lower house.
"It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister is indirectly supporting it...to the extent that what he said (in the Rajya Sabha) his partymen are encouraging that," Kharge said. While Kharge said that mikes were being turned off, terming it as a possible technical problem, other opposition MPs said they are not being allowed to speak.
"When we try to put forth the issues before the House, the mikes turns off. This shows that there is little time to know our view. I don't wish to talk much about it...there could be mechanical defect. "We said that you (Speaker) cannot come under the pressure of the government," Kharge said.
However, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy denied that the microphones are being switched off in the House, saying the charges are "improper and impolite". "She (Speaker) cares equally for all the members in the House. This allegation is improper rather impolite," Rudy told reporters outside Parliament House here.
Reiterating the government's stand that Jyoti would continue as a minister in the Union Cabinet, he said that the matter should be put to rest.
