No vision in President's address to Parliament, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge. Pic/PTI

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said there was no vision or direction in the President's address to Parliament and attacked the ruling party for only giving slogans and not doing development works, reported news agency PTI.

Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said the President's speech has "ignored" the challenges faced by the country and has tried to hide the government's failure, reported PTI.

He said there was no mention about the poor, Dalits and minorities in the President's address.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Opposition parties talk about the plight of common man, while Modiji does only 'Mann Ki Baat'.

The Congress president also attacked the prime minister for not visiting Manipur, which has been burning from the last one year, and said he is an expert in only giving slogans.

Accusing PM Modi of trying to divide society through his speeches during the polls, he said no prime minister has done this before, reported PTI.

He also appealed to the Rajya Sabha chairman to put back statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar and that of other leaders in their original places in Parliament complex, reported PTI.

The Congress chief also raised the issue of alleged NEET irregularities and the airport roof collapse incident.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday claimed that the three new criminal laws were passed "forcibly" after suspending 146 MPs in the last Lok Sabha, and asserted that the INDIA bloc will not allow such "bulldozer justice" to prevail in the country's parliamentary system.

The three new criminal laws came into effect in the country on Monday, bringing far-reaching changes in India's criminal justice system.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) take into account some of the current social realities and modern-day crimes.

The new laws replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "After the political and moral shock in the elections, Modi ji and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws of the criminal justice system which are being implemented from today, were passed forcibly after suspension of 146 MPs."

"INDIA will no longer allow this 'bulldozer justice' to prevail in the parliamentary system," he asserted.

(With inputs from PTI)