Trinamool urges opposition to unite against BJP-led Centre's subjugation of Parliament

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress on Thursday urged all opposition parties to stand united in the face of the BJP-led Central government's efforts to subjugate the Parliament, even as it has stayed away from protesting with the Congress on Adani issue, saying that the largest opposition party attacks and contests against it in West Bengal and other states.

Addressing a press conference, Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, who are the face of the BJP, have turned the Parliament into a "deep, dark chamber" as they are disrupting it and undermining it.

He said that since the past four days, the government has been disrupting the Parliament and it does not want to be accountable to the people of the country.

Senior Trinamool Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy, who was also present during the press conference, said that in his 45 years career as a lawmaker, he had never seen a ruling party disrupting the Parliament's proceedings.

However when asked as to why the Trinamool was not supporting the Congress-led opposition in its protests inside or outside Parliament on the Adani Enterprises issue, O'Brien said that the Congress needs to make up its mind, as it attacks and contests against his party in West Bengal and aligns against it in other states like Kerala and the Northeast.

Meanwhile, citing several instances of the government not following Parliamentary conventions, O'Brien said that the Prime Minister has not answered a single question in Rajya Sabha since 2016 and even in the Lok Sabha, no deputy Speaker has been appointed since 2019, while only one out of every 10 bills are scrutinised in Parliament.

He further said that four out of every 10 bills are ordinances and the average time taken for passing a bill is 10 to 12 minutes.

O'Brien also sought to know why the Enforcement Directorate was not probing the Adani issue as SBI and LIC's funds were invested in Adani Enterprises' follow-on public offer (FPO) and they are now at risk.

He called upon all states to launch their own probes in the matter.

The party leader however refused to comment on Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra's tweet earlier in the day, where she had attacked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that only BJP leaders are allowed to speak in Parliament and then the House is adjourned.

"We have not seen the tweet," O'Brien said.