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Congress MP Manickam Tagore accused the government of "systematically silencing the Opposition" in Parliament, alleging that Congress leaders were denied a chance to respond to remarks made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the Lok Sabha debate on Left Wing Extremism.
In a post on X, Tagore said, "Today in Parliament, when Amit Shah made baseless and politically motivated allegations against Leader of Opposition Sh Rahul Gandhi, we -- Congress MPs -- stood up to oppose it. But as usual, the Speaker refused to give us the mic. Is this how democracy functions? One side gets to accuse, and the other is not even allowed to respond? This is not just about one statement -- this is about systematically silencing the Opposition inside Parliament. If the government is so confident about its claims, why are they afraid of a jvaab? Parliament is meant for debate, not one-sided propaganda. You can mute the mic, but you cannot silence the truth." Echoing similar criticism, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla alleged that the government was politicising the issue of Naxalism. "Whether it's Naxalism or any other issue, they have only one motive left... Elections are going to be held in Kerala and West Bengal, so that's why they say such things. This is not a big deal; they only see elections," he said. The BJP, however, strongly defended the government's position with MP Kangana Ranaut stating, "In 60 years, they (Congress) couldn't eliminate Naxalism, and the PM Modi government eliminated Naxalism in just 12 years, and today is a historic day for the entire country that our government has eliminated Naxalism. Congratulations to all." BJP MP Rekha Sharma also hailed the government's efforts, stating, "The promise our government and the Home Minister had made that we would uproot Naxalism, today Naxalism has been eradicated. This is very good news..." Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticised the Congress, saying, "The Parliament is discussing left-wing extremism... Now, we will become a Naxal-free India. At this time, the Congress party is once again not standing with the National Policy but is doing politics... Ironically, it was Congress that had said that Naxalism is the biggest threat to the internal security of India." Earlier, replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah asserted that Naxalism has been "almost eradicated" from key regions like Bastar and blamed Leftist ideology for its spread, stating that poverty in affected areas was a consequence, not the cause, of extremism. (ANI)
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