Government strangling democracy by not discussing Finance Bill: Congress

The Congress on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of "strangling democracy" and said it was the BJP's conspiracy to pass all important bills including the Finance Bill without debate and discussion.

"It is a black day for democracy. The most important bill of the Finance Ministry was passed but there was no discussion, no consultation and no exchange of ideas.

"Democracy is being strangled and the bill has been passed in the din," said senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

"We have always said that we want debate and discussion. The entire opposition is united on this. All opposition parties also met the Speaker yesterday (Tuesday) and said that we wanted discussion on the issue.

"But the allied parties of the government come to the well of the House, make noise and disrupt the proceedings. This is a conspiracy of the government to pass bills without discussion," he added.

He stressed that all opposition parties were ready for discussions on the bill but the government did not take any step to enable debate.

"On the most important issue of the budget session i.e. the Finance Bill, there was no discussion for even a second. It has been the DNA of the BJP government to strangle democracy. We have seen the example of this today," he added.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Union Budget without any debate, leading to a walkout by members of the Congress and Trinamool Congress, while the TDP, YSR Congress, and AIADMK protested near the Speaker's podium.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the Finance Bill 2018, as well as the Appropriation Bill amid the din, and they were passed by voice vote.

The lower House has been witnessing protests over a number of issues, including the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, special economic status to Andhra Pradesh, and setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Board.

--IANS

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