Opposition leaders hold protest against rising prices

Opposition leaders on Tuesday staged a protest in Parliament complex against inflation and a hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the second day of the monsoon session,

Besides Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, some opposition members including Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena were present at the protest held in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex.

They demanded that the government rollback hike in LPG prices.

“The imposition of five per cent GST on curd, paneer and other commodities of daily use will hurt the common people. We will protest inside the House also,” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said.

The Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said opposition members led by his party wanted a discussion on price rise and GST but the government did not allow and the speaker adjourned the House till 2pm.

“We will raise the same when the House reconvenes. Why is the government afraid about holding the discussion,” he said.

Moments after the proceeding started, both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm amid sloganeering by opposition leaders. “As per rules, it is not allowed to bring placards inside the House,” Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said.

Ahead of the start of the monsoon session on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to all political leaders to cooperate for a “fruitful” session.

“We always consider the House an efficient medium of dialogue, a pilgrimage place. Where there is a dialogue with an open mind, there are fierce debates, if needed, there is also criticism and by very good analysis of things, a very positive contribution can be made to policies and decisions,” PM Modi said.