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Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Opposition was ready to discuss the paper leak issue in Parliament but demanded that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be removed before any dialogue.
Gandhi alleged that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had invited MPs to discuss the matter, but said he was not allowed to respond when he tried to speak. "Just now, Minister Rijiju made a statement that he wants to tell our MPs that there should be a discussion. Normal protocol says that if someone mentions someone else's name, they are responded to. When I wanted to respond, my mic was taken away. I wasn't given the opportunity, said Gandhi. He said the protesting students had three main demands and asserted that the Opposition would not engage in discussions until those demands were addressed. Gandhi stated, "But I would like to say clearly the stance of the Opposition - the students have three demands: 1) The corrupt Education Minister has to go, 2) Action against those who attacked students and beat them up, 3) PM should apologise to the students. These are the 3 conditions. We are not going to have any conversation, any discussion before Mr Pradhan is sacked. That's it." Gandhi further said, "We are not going to have any conversation or discussion before the removal of Dharmendra Pradhan." Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram on Friday termed the Centre's proposed fast-track courts for paper leak cases a "post-fact" measure and questioned the government on steps being taken to prevent examination papers from being leaked and restore the integrity of the examination system. Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that the Union Cabinet would consider a draft Bill proposing fast-track courts and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks, Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that punishment after a leak does not address the root cause of the problem. "But these are all post-fact actions. The government is still not clear on how it's going to prevent the systematic leaks. This fast-track court action against people who are apparently associated with the leaks is all post-fact; it does not prevent the leaks," Chidambaram told ANI. (ANI)
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