Not just AP special status, raise other issues as well: Oppn parties to TDP

Apart from its main demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh, opposition parties have asked the TDP to raise issues such as lynching and communal violence to present a united front for a synchronised attack on the government during the discussion on the no-trust motion in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

According to a senior leader, the Congress's Gulam Nabi Azad had a discussion with other opposition leaders, who agreed that since other parties have supported the TDP's no-confidence motion, the southern party should also reciprocate and mention the issues raised by them in the House.

"We had discussed at our last meeting that the TDP, apart from its main agenda of special status to Andhra Pradesh, should also raise issues such as lynching, communal violence, farmer suicides and other issues mentioned by the other opposition parties. This will certainly show that the Opposition is united against the government. We have already spoken to TDP leaders about it," he said.

Reacting to remarks from leaders in the government that it had the numbers and the no-trust vote would be deafeated, the CPI(M)'s Mohammed Salim said no-trust motion is an instrument through which all issues the people of the country are facing can be brought up and discussed in Parliament.

"The question is not about winning or losing. The government is deliberately trying to divert people's attention by saying the Opposition would lose the vote. They want to show that since the Opposition is losing, the issues they are discussing are of no use. That is certainly not the matter. The government is accountable to people and must give answers to the questions raised by the Opposition," Salim told reporters.

It is the first time in 15 years that a no-confidence motion has been moved against the government. Though the Narendra Modi-led NDA government has enough numbers to sail through, the no-trust vote is being viewed as the first test of opposition unity before the 2019 elections.

The Opposition is seeking to use the opportunity to send a message from the floor of the Lok Sabha about the failures of the Modi government, to build enough momentum ahead of the polls.