There are 100 other issues, snaps Mallikarjun Kharge on Jharkhand stir question
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday refused to comment on the Jharkhand student protests and sought to distance the party’s response to the agitation from
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday refused to comment on the Jharkhand student protests and sought to distance the party’s response to the agitation from the political confrontation in Parliament. He argued that the issue should be discussed separately, rather than being clubbed with the police action on Delhi protesters. Kharge’s remarks came as NDA and INDIA bloc MPs faced off inside Parliament’s premises over the police lati-charge against job aspirants in Jharkhand, while NDA MPs also sought to raise the issue inside the House. Read Full Story Responding to India Today TV on whether the Congress leadership had spoken to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, an INDIA bloc ally, Kharge said different issues should be discussed separately. "That is a separate issue. There are 100 issues, and all 100 are discussed separately. Or do you bring all 100 issues together and discuss them on the same day?" Kharge said when asked about allegations of double standards.
Incidentally, Kharge’s remarks on the Jharkhand protests came immediately after he was asked about police action against students in Delhi and reiterated the Congress’s demand for the government to respond to the issue in Parliament. "The lathi-charge and firing on students were carried out, and we want the government to come to the House and tell us who gave the order and how it happened. We want to know the purpose behind the lathi-charge and all of this. Many children fell ill and had to be taken to hospitals. More than 100 students suffered various kinds of injuries, and many students were injured after being beaten with rubber bullets. We want a statement on this," the Congress chief said. However, he avoided responding to the protests in Jharkhand, where the INDIA bloc is in power. Earlier in the day, NDA and INDIA bloc MPs came face to face at Parliament’s Makar Dwar, with security personnel forming a cordon between the two sides as they raised counter-slogans and displayed placards.
NDA MPs marched from the Parliament Library to the main entrance, raising slogans including "Rahul Gandhi jawab do" and "Rahul Gandhi bhago mat", accusing Congress leader of "running away" from a debate on student protests across the country. Meanwhile, the student agitation in Jharkhand entered its 18th day on Tuesday, with job aspirants continuing their protest over irregularities in recruitment examinations. The BJP called a statewide bandh from 8 am to midnight against the police action during Monday's march to the Assembly, while the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) announced a 'Vidhan Sabha March'. The students and job aspirants have been protesting since July 25, demanding transparency in recruitment examinations, reforms in the functioning of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), cancellation of several examinations, and an independent probe by the CBI or a panel of retired High Court judges from outside the state.
The BriefWire