As many as 16 opposition parties have decided not to attend 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.
The 16 Opposition parties also demand 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 also released a statement on its Twitter handle, announcing the decision. The other parties who have decided to boycott the address include the SP, NCP, Shiv Sena and the CPI(M), among others.
President Ram Nath Kovind would address the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on January 29.
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.
It has demanded the immediate dismissal of Union home minister Amit Shah, holding him “directly responsible” for the “anarchy” in the national capital on Republic Day and describing the Red Fort fiasco as a government-sponsored conspiracy to defame the peaceful farmers’ movement.