New Delhi: While condemning the alleged police excesses on student agitators during the ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ march in Jharkhand, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, saying that it cannot use the state’s issue to “divert attention” from the alleged police brutality against protesters during the July 20 Parliament march.
Venugopal’s reaction comes after the NDA and Opposition MPs staged protests against each other earlier in the day, outside Makar Dwar of Parliament over various issues, ranging from Opposition’s ‘selective’ outrage pertaining to Jharkhand students stir to disruption of Parliament.
While the BJP-led NDA accused the Opposition of “stalling” the proceedings, the Opposition demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah be present in the House to address the issue of police action against protesting students, particularly the use of pellet guns.
Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament House, K.C. Venugopal maintained that police action against students anywhere is condemnable.
“Whenever a serious question is raised about the atrocities against students in Delhi, this is the response they give. Wherever there are attacks against students, we condemn them. The Hon’ble Leader of the Opposition said the same thing yesterday. But you cannot divert attention from the atrocities in Delhi by raising the Jharkhand issue,” the Congress MP said.
K.C. Venugopal was referring to the LoP’s social media post on ‘X’ on Monday in which Rahul Gandhi condemned the police action against students protesting in Jharkhand over the examination irregularities as “wrong”, adding that the government should work to resolve the issue immediately. Taking to X, Gandhi had said: “The use of force against students protesting in Jharkhand is wrong. Students have a right to peaceful protest, and only dialogue can yield solutions. The Jharkhand government must continue to hear these students out and resolve their issues immediately.”
Echoing a similar view as Rahul Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal, Congress MP Amar Singh said: “Wherever there has been a lathi-charge, we will oppose and condemn it. We have condemned it, even if it is a partner government. We are not in favour of using force. Resolve the issue through dialogue.”
“They (Jharkhand government) have already said that. It’s not like them (BJP-led NDA), where they are firing bullets and taking out AK-47s, as was done in Bihar,” he added.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also said: “We condemn any use of force against students, whether at Jantar Mantar or in Jharkhand.”
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP, Pushpendra Saroj backed the JMM-led Jharkhand government amid the stir while cautioning that a “Jantar Mantar-like situation should not arise”.
“Governments should listen to their students, irrespective of the party in power. No situation should be allowed to arise that leads to the one that was witnessed at Jantar Mantar. We have seen that three resignations have taken place there, and the first round of discussions with officials has also been held,” he told IANS.
Noting that the Hemant Soren-led government is directly engaging with the students, Saroj added: “We have also seen the Leader of the Opposition (in Jharkhand) speak openly on the issue. So, this is not a dictatorial government. The Congress-JMM government in Jharkhand is continuously in contact with the students.”
The SP MP further said that the Jharkhand protesters’ demand for a CBI probe into the alleged exam irregularities “can be only fulfilled by the BJP-led Central government”.
(IANS)
