Spokesperson: Shri Ajay Maken and Pramod Tiwari: Shri Ajay Maken said that whatever happened in the Rajya Sabha today was unexpected. All the opposition parties felt that the attitude of the Chairman was biased. The opposition is not getting the attention it deserves and if the voice of the opposition is not heard completely inside the Rajya Sabha, then how will democracy work? This is the biggest question today. Our Deputy Leader Pramod Tiwari has seen this entire incident and I would request him to put forth his views in detail before the people of the country.

Shri Pramod Tiwari said that it has been a parliamentary tradition in India that when the opposition leader and the leader of the House want to present their views in the House, they get priority over other MPs. But for the last few days, it has been happening that the opposition leader, who has 50 years of parliamentary experience and whose main aim is to somehow raise the voice of the country’s victims, the oppressed and the poor, his mike is switched off, he is not allowed to speak. Even before he is able to present his views in the House, his mike is switched off.

If we cannot raise the issues of our rights, the rights of the entire opposition, the entire country, democracy, the rights of 140 crore people of the country, then it is a violation of democracy. The opposition leader does not get the priority to speak as per the dignity of his post. The mike is switched off or a woman member, who is the senior-most member, is stopped before she can finish speaking, this is unfair.

We have come here to raise the pain and suffering of 140 crore people of the country, we are raising it, we will continue to do so, we will continue to register our protest in a democratic way. We are raising the voice of the people and if the government has brought a censure motion on the voice of the people, then the attitude of the government is not one of belief in democracy, it is the attitude of dictatorship and the entire opposition is united against dictatorship. - Friday, August 9, 2024