Farmers’ protest: 16 Opposition parties to boycott president’s address to Parliament on Friday

A total of 16 Opposition parties have decided to boycott the president's address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament in solidarity with the farmers protesting the new farm laws, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Thursday. This has happened for the second time that major opposition parties have decided to boycott the President’s address.

Earlier, it was due to the anti-CAA protests. In January, 2020, the leaders of the opposition parties wore black arm bands during the President address to both the houses of the Parliament.

The 16 Opposition parties have also demanded a probe into the Centre's role in violence on Republic Day in Delhi, said the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha while speaking to the media with Congress' chief whip in Lok Sabha, K Suresh, by his side.

The Congress on Wednesday had held Union Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the violence that shook the national capital on Republic Day and said he should be sacked immediately.

The Congress had also accused the Modi government of being part of a concerted conspiracy to malign the farmers' agitation by allowing some miscreants to enter the Red Fort complex and hoist a religious flag, in their bid to ensure that the farmers bury their demand for the repeal of the three new agri laws.

President Ram Nath Kovind would address the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on January 29.

With PTI inputs