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Business News/ News / Opposition MPs protesting over Adani issue halted at Vijay Chowk
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Opposition MPs protesting over Adani issue halted at Vijay Chowk

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the police of preventing the MPs from presenting their case for a thorough investigation into the Adani matter.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (Photo: ANI)Premium
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (Photo: ANI)

Leaders of several opposition parties were stopped by police during a protest march over the Adani issue at Vijay Chowk.

The leaders were on their way to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate but were not allowed to proceed further.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the police of preventing the MPs from presenting their case for a thorough investigation into the Adani matter. The police cited the imposition of Section 144 CrPC as the reason for not allowing the march to proceed.

"Opposition MPs of nearly 18 parties want to give a memorandum to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue, but the government is not allowing us to march forward and the police have stopped us at Vijay Chowk," Kharge told reporters.

"We want to present our case to ED for a detailed investigation on the Adani issue and we will keep trying to march forward," the Congress chief said.

Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said, "We are 200 MPs of opposition parties and were seeking to march to the ED office to present a memorandum for a probe into the Adani issue, but we were stopped forcibly by the police."

"We are going back to Parliament and would stage a protest inside Parliament House," he said, as several MPs returned to Parliament after the police did not allow them to march forward.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said "we will not be deterred from marching forward and will continue with our protest march".

The protest march began at 12:30 pm from Parliament House and MPs from several opposition parties took part.

The TMC and NCP, however, were not part of the opposition protest march.

The opposition has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue and has been stalling proceedings of Parliament over their demand.

US short-seller Hindenburg Research had alleged that the Adani group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud", and used offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices. The group had denied the allegations, calling them "malicious", "baseless" and a "calculated attack on India

The Trinamool Congress earlier separately staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex over the LPG price hike and demanded answers from the government.

TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said they would not participate in the opposition march and would stage their own protest.

TMC MPs raised slogans against the government over the LPG price hike and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give them answers.

Earlier, Kharge is calling into question the demands for an apology, stating that those making such demands must also answer for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own comments while abroad.

Specifically, Kharge is suggesting that Modi has humiliated the people of the country with his remarks, and is thus calling for accountability from those seeking an apology from Gandhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a number of senior ministers have been calling for an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his comments where he stated that democracy was under attack in India.

"I would like to ask a question to the people demanding an apology (from Rahul Gandhi) that (what about) when Modi ji went to five-six countries and humiliated the people of our country and we were told by him that being born in India is a sin," Kharge noted.

"Democracy is diminishing here, freedom of expression and speech are being weakened, TV channels are being pressured and people speaking the truth are being jailed, so if this is not the process of ending democracy then what is?" the Congress president said.

Further noting, “So, there is no question of an apology", he added.

Both Houses of Parliament have failed to conduct any significant business during the first two days of the budget session's second half due to the controversy surrounding Gandhi's comments.

During his interactions in the UK, Gandhi alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a "full-scale assault" on the country's institutions. The former Congress president also told British parliamentarians in London that microphones are often "turned off" in the Lok Sabha when an opposition member raises important issues.

Gandhi's remarks triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hit back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Modi raising internal politics abroad.

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Published: 15 Mar 2023, 12:33 PM IST
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