"Emotional moment for all of us to move out...": Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on last day in old Parliament building

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the last day of Parliament proceedings in old building remembered former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and others and said that he was tireless in listening to the voice of the Opposition and never mocked or deflected when answering questions.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the last day of Parliament proceedings in old building remembered former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and others and said that he was tireless in listening to the voice of the Opposition and never mocked or deflected when answering questions. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said "It is really an emotional moment for all of us to move out from this (old) Parliament building today. We are all present here to bid adieu to our old building. Pandit Nehru had said that Parliamentary democracy demands many virtues, it demands ability, devotion to work, and self-discipline. Though he (Pandit Nehru) enjoyed a massive majority in the Parliament, he was tireless in listening to the voice of the Opposition and never mocked or deflected when answering questions. Even the Speaker's bell would ring for Jawaharlal Nehru when he exceeded his time limit while making speeches in the Parliament, this shows that no one is beyond Parliamen, that was Nehru's contribution to the development of Parliamentary democracy in India"

The session today will be held in the old Parliament building, and MPs will move into the building on September 19, the second day of the special session. Adhir further mentioned Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar and said that we need mantras of Ambedkar and Pandit Nehru who have make this parliamentary democracy glorious for us.

"Most illustrious person Babasaheb Ambedkar, who is regarded as father of the constitution, he suggested that political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What it means? It means way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity, which are not to be treated as separate items in the trinity. We need the mantra of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the mantra of Jawaharlal Nehru and other who have make this parliamentary democracy glorious for us," Adhir Ranjan added. Congress Leader Chowdhury also mentioned Chandrayaan in his speech on last day of Parliamentary proceedings in the old building of the Parliament.

"There were discussions going on about Chandrayaan, I want to say that in 1946, under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Atomic Research Committee was formed. From there, we moved forward and developed ISRO in 1964. But today what will we call ISRO, if not the Indian Space Research Organisation then what? From where has this Bharat, India issue been raised?," Adhir added. Adhir Ranjan further mentioned the bills which they (Opposition) had protested against in the Parliament.

"We opposed demonetization, GST, abrogation of article 370 was also criticized because Kashmir is our part. Even today, our army loses their life in Kashmir, this shows that we doubted it correctly. One side Manipur and one side Jammu and Kashmir are burning so we have a lot left to do. CAA bill in 2019 was opposed, farm law was opposed, digital data protection bill also," He said. Adhir also slammed the Central government of using central agencies to destablizie the opposition and said that an environement has been created in the country where if you are in majority, you can do anything.

"We demand from you that to keep one day for opposition. We can speak whatever we want on that day. Women reservation bill should also be passed by this government in this session. There is a situation in the country that if you are in the majority then you can do anything. This has led to side-lining of opposition in the parliament, destabilizing of opposition using central agencies like CBI, IT against opposition leaders and ministers," Adhir Ranjan said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday recalled the emotional moment of his entering the Parliament as an MP for the first time in 2014, saying he bowed down to honour the temple of democracy and could have never imagined that a child belonging to a poor family would be able to enter the Parliament.

Initiating the discussion on the 'Parliamentary journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – achievements, experiences, memories and learnings' in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister also referred to the Parliament shifting to the new building on Tuesday and said "bidding goodbye to this building is an emotional moment". The Special Session of Parliament began on Monday and will continue till Friday. (ANI)

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