Goa Opposition boycotts Om Birla’s address to Assembly
The Hindu
“The Lok Sabha Speaker has failed to give a hearing to our leader Rahul Gandhi.”
Opposition parties in Goa, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Thursday boycotted Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s address to the State Assembly with the Congress questioning why Mr. Birla was not giving a chance to party leader Rahul Gandhi to represent himself over his disqualification in a defamation case.
Mr. Birla, on a day-long visit to the western coastal State, addressed a special session of the Assembly on the theme ‘Viksit Bharat 2047: Role of Public Representatives’. Goa Chief Minister and BJP leader Pramod Sawant, Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and other members of the ruling BJP were present.
However, the Opposition parties led by the Congress united to boycott the programme. These included the AAP, the Vijai Sardesai-led Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Revolutionary Goans (RG) party.
Congressman and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Yuri Alemao said they protested against Mr. Birla for not giving Mr. Gandhi a hearing in a 2019 criminal defamation case over the Congressman’s ‘Modi’ surname remark during an election campaign rally in Karnataka at the time of the general election that year.
“The Lok Sabha Speaker has failed to give a hearing to our leader Rahul Gandhi. We condemn this dictatorship [on part of the BJP]. So, the entire Opposition decided to boycott the function,” said Mr. Alemao, speaking to reporters on the Assembly premises.
Mr. Gandhi, the former MP from Wayanad in Kerala, had spoken of economic offenders Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi while invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name in the same breath.
“Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” the former Congress MP had asked at the 2019 campaign rally.
The Opposition Congress demanded that the government open the Gandhi Vatika Museum, depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and freedom struggle, built at a cost of ₹85 crore in Jaipur’s Central Park last year, during the Congress-led regime in Rajasthan. The museum has not been opened to the public, reportedly because of the administration’s engagements with the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Almaya Munnettam (Lay People to the Fore), group in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church opposed to the synod-recommended Mass, rejected a circular issued by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and apostolic administrator Bosco Puthur on June 9 to implement the unified Mass in the archdiocese from July 3.
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.