JOIN USUnited Oppn seeks apology from Modi
A united Opposition on Friday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi “for saying they had a problem with demonetisation as they didn’t get enough time to prepare for it”.
The seventh day of the Winter session of Parliament was washed out as the Opposition stuck to its stand and the government was in no mood to relent.
Minutes after the Rajya Sabha met for the day, BSP supremo Mayawati was on her feet, saying the prime minister had “wrongly accused the Opposition of holding black money” and demanded an apology.
She was supported by leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who wondered how Modi could make such an allegation when it was made clear by former prime minister Manmohan Singh and others during the demonetisation debate that the Opposition is against black money.
At a function in the Parliament library building earlier in the day, Modi had said, “Those criticising demonetisation don’t have a problem with the government’s preparedness... their problem is that they didn’t get time to prepare.”
“How can the prime minister level such an allegation? We are against black money. The prime minister must apologise,” Azad said, as the Congress and other Opposition members trooped into the Well of the House.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, too, referred to Modi’s remarks and sought a statement from him.
“The issue now is not our demand for an adjournment motion, but the remarks of the prime minister. He said the Opposition supports black money,” Kharge said.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan repeatedly appealed for peace, but whatever the members spoke during the Zero Hour could not be heard, compelling her to adjourn the House.
The Rajya Sabha, too, was adjourned for the day after two futile attempts by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to run the House.