MPs move notice for amendments to President's address in Parliament

New Delhi: The Opposition in Lok Sabha moved a notice for 204 amendments to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint session of Parliament, reported The Indian Express. The notice to bid pressure on the government includes farmers' agitation, leaked WhatsApp chats of Arnab Goswami and the pandemic.

The Opposition expressed their regret on the President's reluctance to mention a solution to the ongoing farmer's protest against the three controversial farm bills passed by the Parliament. 29 MPs from 11 opposition parties including Congress, TMC, DMK and Left parties gave notices demanding amendments.

MP N K Premachandran of RSP sought government's assurance for a special package for farmers and Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural produce. In addition to mentioning the farmer's agitation, MPs Hibi Eden and Kodikkunnil Suresh want the President to comment on the police atrocity on the farmers in Delhi and the demise of a protesting farmer.

Congress MP Deepak Baiji sought answers for the incidents on Republic Day at the Red Fort and why authorities failed to deal with it. He also demanded a joint parliamentary committee to look into the leak of information regarding Balakot airstrikes. The Congress had sought a probe into the chats between Republic TV anchor Arnab Goswami and former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta on the issue. Congress MP Benny Behanan pointed out that President's address did not mention the TRP fraud.

Congress's Shashi Tharoor has mooted the issue of transparency surrounding the PM-CARES fund. MPs Sougata Ray and BSP's Ritesh Pandey have taken up harassment faced by media persons for tweets or comments. Many MPs raised that the President's address didn't mention the reported suffering endured by migrant labourers during their mass exodus post-lockdown. Rising prices of petroleum products were also mentioned.

One of the leaders said that moving those amendments referring to the farmer's protests is to send a political message and build pressure on the government. But they are seldom carried out as the treasury benches enjoy the majority and BJP have a comfortable majority in this Lok Sabha.