Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the opposition had remained consistent in its demands since the beginning and was not changing its “goalpost”, as the logjam in Parliament continued.
Kharge said the opposition wanted Home Minister Amit Shah to make a statement on the alleged police action against protesting students, including the use of pellet guns. He said the issue had remained unresolved for 18 days.
"We are not changing our goalpost. Our position has remained consistent from the very beginning, and we have three specific issues. The first concerns the lathi-charge and firing on students - we want to know who issued the orders and how it happened; we want a statement in the House regarding this. Secondly, as a result of the lathi-charge, many students fell ill or were hospitalised; over a 100 suffered minor injuries, and many were wounded by pellet guns. We want a statement on this matter as well. It has been 18 days, and there is no willingness to provide a statement," Kharge told reporters in Parliament House complex.
"They are merely trying to make a quick statement and move on; that is their intention. The second issue is the 'Chanda Chori' (donation theft) matter, and the third is the demand for an apology. These three issues have been raised from the beginning, remain relevant now, and will continue to persist until they are resolved," the Congress chief said.
Kharge said the students' protest in Jharkhand was a separate issue and questioned whether all matters could be taken up simultaneously.
"That is a separate issue. There are hundreds of issues, they are discussed separately? Do we bring up every single issue on the very same day?" he said.
His remarks came a day after he and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah of being responsible for the continuing Parliament stalemate.
Gandhi had said the opposition wanted Shah to clarify whether he had ordered firing of pellet guns at protesting students, rather than make a statement on “general topics”, after the government said the Home Minister was ready to respond to a debate on student protests and police action.
The Congress has maintained three demands -- that Shah clarify whether he ordered firing on students, that Modi address the alleged theft of donations meant for the Ram Temple, and that the Prime Minister apologise on both issues.
The party has described the demands as “non-negotiable”. Gandhi had also alleged that Modi and Shah lacked the courage to come to Parliament for more than 15 days and “own up to what they have done”.
(With inputs from PTI)
