Opposition leaders suffering from Modi-phobia, says Pralhad Joshi

He questioned if the opposition is opposing Bills in the parliament because they are introduced by Modi-led government?

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi stated that leaders of the opposition, especially Congress, are suffering from ‘Modi-phobia’, which is why they are opposing all the bills introduced by the Modi government.

Speaking to media persons after participating in the cleanliness drive at Heggeri graveyard as part of the 98th birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here on Saturday he said he fails to understand what is the reason for opposing the 'Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021' that envisages voluntary linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.

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“The bill was introduced in the parliament only after the Standing Committee, which consists of members from all party, approved it unanimously and without a single dissent note. The bill was also received approval from the Election Commission of India, which held discussions with all the political parties. This being the case, what is the need for the opposition leaders to oppose the bill,” he said and questioned if the opposition is opposing only because the bill was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government?

"Looks like they (the opposition leaders) have decided not to allow smooth functioning of the parliament and the winter session was the second such session that was completely disturbed by the opposition leaders, he said and added that the 12 MPs who were suspended for their unruly behaviour also did not budge to tender apology.

Ban on MES

Responding to a query on the growing demand for banning the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), Joshi said being a political party it is not that easy to ban MES. However, the State government is taking stringent measures to punish the few miscreants within the MES for creating unrest in Karnataka.

Joshi said Belagavi-Marathi linguistic is a dead issue and every time the MES faces an existential crisis a few miscreants among them start such nuisance.

“Marathi and Kannada speaking people are living peacefully in both the States. There is a need for both the governments in Maharashtra and Karnataka to rein in such miscreants and prevent flaring up of issue,” he said and asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar to ensure that their party men do not make provocative statements.

Joshi also urged the pro-Kannada organisations to withdraw their bandh call given on December 30 as such bandhs are going to affect the people of Karnataka, especially poor and daily wage labourers the most.

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