From Ram temple to ethanol: INDIA Bloc sharpens attack on Centre

Setting the tone for a stormy Monsoon Session of Parliament, the opposition INDIA bloc on Monday unveiled an aggressive strategy to corner the Narendra Modi government on a host of contentious issues, ranging from the alleged "theft" of Ram temple donations and the education system's "systematic collapse" to the Centre's ethanol-blending policy.

The strategy was finalised at a meeting of INDIA bloc floor leaders held in the chamber of Rajya Sabha leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge ahead of the session's commencement. The meeting was attended by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, Samajwadi Party's Dharmendra Yadav, NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule, Trinamool Congress leaders Saugata Roy and Sagarika Ghose, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, JMM's Mahua Maji, and CPI(M) leaders John Brittas and P. Santhosh Kumar, among others.

After the meeting, Kharge declared that the Congress and its INDIA bloc partners would relentlessly raise issues affecting ordinary citizens and seek answers from the government throughout the Monsoon Session.

Leading the opposition's charge is the alleged irregularity in donations collected for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Accusing the government of betraying the faith of millions of devotees, Kharge demanded an immediate independent investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds and called for the complete financial accounts to be made public.

The Congress president also trained his guns on the Centre over repeated examination paper leaks, describing them as evidence of the "systematic collapse" of the country's education system. Claiming that 152 paper leaks have occurred since 2014 and that 25 students have lost their lives as a consequence, he demanded the dismissal of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Kharge further criticised the government's ethanol-blending programme, alleging that it was being "forcibly imposed" on nearly 3.5 crore vehicle owners under the guise of an "experiment".

"Is looting the public's hard-earned money the BJP's only tool?" he asked, while asserting that the opposition would also scrutinise key legislative proposals and other issues of public concern during the session.

Vowing an uncompromising fight inside Parliament, Kharge said the INDIA bloc would hold the government accountable on every issue, promising to wage the battle for the rights, voice and trust of the people with "full strength".

With PTI inputs