Anurag Thakur slams opposition for not allowing parliament to function

Union Minister Anurag Thakur criticised the Congress-led opposition on Friday for “not allowing Parliament to function” and questioned whether this was due to the fact that their leader was no longer a Lok Sabha member. Thakur questioned whether it was the “desire” of some people who were no longer members of the House to guarantee that Parliament would not function, an apparent reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in March.
“The opposition is using justifications to prevent the House from working. The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister remarked outside Parliament that certain people who are no longer members of the House desire that the House should not function. Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament on March 24 after a Gujarat court convicted him and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment on charges of criminal defamation for comments he made about the Modi surname. Thakur stated on Friday that the opposition was avoiding a debate on the Manipur situation in Parliament because they were afraid other state governments, where similar instances had occurred, would be exposed. “Are they running away because they fear that their state governments will be exposed during the discussion,” he said.