The first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session was washed out on Monday as Opposition parties protested the alleged National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak and Ram temple donation theft issues, forcing repeated adjournments of the proceedings throughout the day.
Over the course of the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi took potshots at each other. Modi took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while hailing young innovators behind India’s first privately developed orbital rocket.
“I am told that the average age of the team working at the Skyroot start-up is just 28 years. It is these young minds who have made this possible. I am not talking about a 56-year-old young man; I am talking about a start-up whose team, with an average age of just 28, has planted India’s flag in the realm of space,” the PM said in his customary remarks to the media before the start of the session.
Gandhi, who turned 56 in June, responded later in the day to the PM’s remarks. In a social media post, the Congress leader said, “Prime Minister Modi is the most anti-youth Prime Minister in India’s history. He is so anti-youth that he can’t even take the resignation of a failed Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan.” Gandhi added, “152 paper leaks. 7.5 crore students victimised. And not a single guilty person punished. Who got the punishment? The hardworking youth.” He said the “tear-gassing” and “lathi-charging” of students “is not democratic”. “They have legitimate demands. The prime minister should accept these demands and do something about them,” he said.
Parliament convened for its Monsoon Session, which is scheduled until August 13, at 11 am as thousands gathered in central Delhi answering the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)’s call to march to Parliament. Protesters broke through a major barricade erected in front of the Parliament Street Police Station, barely a kilometre from Parliament, at 11.15 am. Ten minutes later, amid slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Vande Mataram” and “Inquilab Zindabad”, protesters tried to push through multiple barricades in the high-security zone, leading to a scuffle-like situation.
Miscreants in the crowd also threw objects, injuring several people, including police personnel. Several protesters sustained injuries, and many police personnel were seen bleeding. To disperse the protesters, police personnel lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to a lathi charge. The gates of the Parliament House building were shut briefly, as were some Delhi Metro stations. Internet connectivity around New Delhi was suspended by operators on the authorities’ orders. At around 1 pm, police imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in the area, banning all gatherings.
Two members of the CJP met Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in the afternoon. According to Nadda’s social media post at 4.37 pm, the protesters had, for the “first time”, proposed holding a dialogue with the government on Monday morning, and “our discussion continued from 11.50 am” in a “cordial atmosphere”. “They submitted a written petition to me around 4 pm, and I requested the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” Nadda said. According to sources, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the afternoon.
The two-member CJP delegation of Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka met the health minister at his residence. “We put forth three demands, including calling for the immediate resignation of Pradhan, release of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and Rs 1 crore compensation to the families of all NEET aspirants who committed suicide,” Das said. “The minister assured us he will discuss this at the appropriate level. However, no commitments have been made so far. The peaceful protesters will not rest until the demand is met,” Das said in a social media post at 4.15 pm. Ranka said it was only late on Sunday night that the Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, reached out to open a communication channel with the government.
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Safdarjung Hospital to file Sonam Wangchuk’s pathological reports and health bulletins and said it would take a call on Tuesday on the plea by the fasting activist’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, to shift him to a private facility. Delhi Police described social media claims that climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, was assaulted and her hair was pulled by police personnel during the ongoing protest as “completely false and misleading”.
In a handwritten note issued in the evening, Wangchuk said, “Seeing the brutality with which peacefully protesting youth are being dealt with, I have decided to continue my fast until the youth leaders are allowed to meet the parliamentarians at the Sansad Bhawan or I am allowed to meet them here at the hospital.” “Hopefully, the government will fix accountability for the Education Minister before that,” he added.
In Parliament, amid the din in the Lok Sabha, the government introduced a Bill to replace an ordinance that increased the number of Supreme Court judges by four. The government said the enhanced strength was one of the most exigent and viable solutions for tackling pendency in the top court.
Earlier in the day, in his customary remarks before the start of the session, the PM called for a productive Monsoon Session. Referring to the West Asia conflict, Modi said the war had posed a major crisis for countries such as India that are dependent on others for energy. He said petrol, diesel, LPG, fertilisers and chemicals had all faced disruptions. Yet India continued to grow at 7.7 per cent, becoming the fastest-growing major economy in the world. As proof of the government’s efforts to achieve self-reliance, he spoke of an oil refinery being inaugurated in Rajasthan, as well as the inauguration of the country’s third semiconductor plant and the flagging off of a green hydrogen-powered train.
In his social media post, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the PM started the Monsoon Session “with his usual litany of platitudes”, but the Opposition was committed to raising the alleged donation theft at Ayodhya’s Ram temple. He said the “NEET paper leak and CBSE Grade 12 Board examinations fiasco have enraged the yuva shakti that the PM paid lip service to”. He said the Opposition would also raise “the dirty tricks and financial incentives being used to split Opposition parties”, the “accusations of corruption and conflict of interest that are plaguing” the Union minister for road transport, the minister of state for agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, and the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
(With PTI inputs)
