In RS, Nadda defends Delhi Police action at CPI(M) office
Union Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha described the police swoop on Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s office in Delhi on Tuesday as a “normal law and order situation” and accused the opposition of “politicising and sensationalising” the police action.
The minister made the assertion when CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised the issue of a police raid at the party office in the House. Supporting him, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said democracy was under threat.
A Delhi Police team on Tuesday allegedly attempted to take CPM Student Wing SFI’s Delhi Secretary and former JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh into custody from party’s AKG Bhavan office in an older case. The police action led to argument between the police and the CPM leaders, after which the police team left AKG Bhavan without Aishe Ghosh.
“It was a very normal law and order situation that we have to understand. Police acted to maintain the order,” Nadda said in the Rajya Sabha, adding that “any student who is into activism will have to face such a situation.”
The Union Minister then went to draw an Emergency parallel and gave example of how he too was arrested several times when he was a student activist. “I have been a student activist and I was arrested several times from the classroom during the Emergency under Congress rule,” he pointed out. Nadda asserted that the “police acted according to the law-and-order situation” and opposition should not politicise it.
“The Opposition is trying to sensationalise and politicise a law-and-order activity by the policy,” Nadda said.
Raising the issue, Brittas said a Delhi Police team, in plain clothes, entered the party office to arrest Ghosh in the 2021 protest case in JNU. He sought to relate the police action to the recent students’ protest, saying Ghosh’s only mistake was that she participated in the Jantar Mantar protest.
The CPM claimed that the police is using an old case to take action against a student leader after her involvement in the recent protests.
The Upper House witnessed several adjournments as the Opposition pressed for Home Minister Amit Shah’s presence in the House. This was the second time the Upper House of Parliament was adjourned on Wednesday. The first adjournment came around 20 minutes into the Zero Hour.
As the Rajya Sabha met for the Question Hour at noon, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury questioned about the Home Minister and was joined by other Opposition leaders in demanding his presence in the House. Slogans were also raised demanding Shah to come to the House. Following this, Chairman CP Radhakrishnan adjourned the House till 2 pm.
Earlier, the House was adjourned for about 40 minutes till 12 noon amid uproar by Opposition members over the entry of Delhi Police at the CPI(M) office in the national capital to arrest former JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh.
