Opposition parties to boycott President’s address to Parliament on Friday

Image Courtesy:ndtv.com

Making a massive political statement, 16 Opposition parties have decided to boycott President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to Parliament on January 29. The President is to address the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament when the Budget session begins, however, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has said his party along with 15 others will boycott it, in solidarity with the farmers protesting the new farm laws.

The Congress party & 15 other Opposition parties have decided to boycott the President’s address to Parliament on 29th Jan 2021 in solidarity with the farmers of India.
Here is the joint statement: pic.twitter.com/mJo9Q4fXyd
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 28, 2021

According to news reports, this is the second time that any such protest has happened during the Presidential address in Parliament. In January, 2020, the leaders of the opposition parties wore black armbands during the President’s address to both the houses, reported the National Herald. This was a mark of protest in the wake of the anti-CAA protests that were going on across the country at that time.

Now, the 16 Opposition parties have also demanded that a probe into the Centre’s role in violence on Republic Day in Delhi be conducted. According to news reports, the Congress, on Wednesday, had also held Union Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the violence that was witnessed on Republic Day. They had demanded that he “be sacked immediately,” reported NH and the party had accused the “Modi government of being part of a concerted conspiracy to malign the farmers’ agitation by allowing some miscreants to enter the Red Fort complex and hoist a religious flag, in their bid to ensure that the farmers bury their demand for the repeal of the three new agri laws.”