Key National Democratic Alliance member Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday slammed the Modi government at an all-party meeting called ahead of the budget session, saying legislation drafted on religious lines was not acceptable and reasserted its line that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) should not exclude Muslims. Akali Dal Rajya Sabha member Balwinder Singh Bhunder raised the issue during the meeting. His comments come at a time when BJP national president J.P. Nadda met SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to resolve the differences between the two parties over seat-sharing in the Delhi Assembly elections.
‘Demand from day one’
“We have been saying this from day one. The government should have replaced the names of religions with just the phrase “religious minorities” in the Citizenship [Amendment] Act,” Mr. Bhunder told The Hindu .
The Akali Dal had supported the CAA and during the debate in Parliament it said that Muslims should also have been included in the Act. Mr. Bhunder criticised the anti-Muslim narrative in the Delhi election campaign. “The slogans being raised against minorities with phrases like “goli maar do” is very unfortunate. At one point such slogans were raised against Sikhs too and those in Opposition today were the once who used to raise slogans,” he noted.
The other allies, the AIADMK and the JD(U), spoke in support of the government at the meeting.
Broadly, the Opposition parties collectively raised four issues – the ‘arrogance’ of the government in failing to reach out to those protesting against the CAA and related confusion on the National Register of Citizens (NRC); the growing rate of unemployment, release of Kashmir leaders Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti from detention; and lastly, the assertion of many parties, including the Biju Janata Dal, that federal values were being undermined.
The meeting was attended by 26 political parties. The Shiv Sena skipped the meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a “greater focus” on economic issues in the session and how India could gain in the prevailing global situation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters after the meeting.
Only a ritual: Azad
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who opened the discussion, said the meeting was merely a photo-opportunity and a ritual. The number of days that Parliament sat had been deliberately reduced. “The government is focused only on getting bills passed but we also drew their attention towards sinking economy, rising unemployment and Kashmir. We told them Farooq Abdullah be released so that he can attend Parliament, others be released too,” Mr. Azad told reporters after the meeting.
The government, he alleged, was least bothered about the people protesting on the streets over CAA-NRC. “This shows their arrogance. They are not bothered about farmers too. The Opposition wanted these issues to be discussed too,” he said.
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandhopadhyay said the government should have reached out to CAA protesters and the arrogance would be their undoing. “You must remember that the Congress was reduced from 412 to 44. If you remain arrogant, you will be reduced from 303 to 33,” he said, according to sources.
Biju Janata Dal spokesperson and Lok Sabha member Pinaki Misra, according to the sources, said the federal values were being undermined. He raised the issue of inordinate delay in paying the State's share of the Goods and Services Tax.
During the meeting, the sources said, the Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress exchanged sharp words over the three-capital issue, nearly disrupting the meeting. The other parties had to intervene to cool their temper.
Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha, pointing at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, said that one could have a dialogue with the old BJP but the new BJP doesn't know how to communicate with anyone.
