NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday expressed disappointment over President Droupadi Murmu's address and said it was only filled with praise for the government, ignoring the foundational issues such as the lack of provision for the weakest sections of the society.
The president's address is drafted by the government, the Congress chief said.
“There are MPs and parties in the House who have problems with the slogan of ‘Jai Samvidhan’ being raised,” he said.
He was replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.
"There was no vision and direction" in the President's joint address to Parliament, Kharge said. He said that there was no mention of poor, Dalits and minorities in President's address.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Opposition parties talk about the plight of common man, while Modiji does only 'Mann Ki Baat'.
The Congress president also attacked the prime minister for not visiting Manipur, which has been burning from the last one year, and said he is an expert in only giving slogans.
Accusing PM Modi of trying to divide society through his speeches during the polls, he said no prime minister has done this before.
Further, Mallikarjun Kharge urged the Rajya Sabha chairman to restore statues of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar to their original places in Parliament complex.
The statues have been relocated to Prerna Sthal, a dedicated area at the back of the complex. The decision has been strongly criticised by Opposition parties, who are demanding a rollback.
NDTV reported that Kharge went head-to-head with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju over the Prerna Sthal issue, which refers to moving statues of national icons, including Mahatma Gandhi, from the front to the back.
(With inputs from PTI)