New Delhi: Accusing the government of stifling the opposition's voice and subjecting parliamentary democracy to a 'severe threat', opposition parties led by the Congress yesterday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene.
A host of opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, submitted a memorandum to Mukherjee expressing shock over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's refusal to make a statement on the 'draconian' demonetisation decision.
"It is unfortunate and unprecedented that the government itself has been deliberately disrupting and forcing adjournments of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This is being done at the behest of senior ministers.
"Moreover, the Prime Minister has misled the nation by blaming the opposition," the parties said in the memorandum to Mukherjee.
"We are deeply concerned that the parliamentary democratic system itself is under severe threat," they said, claiming that their repeated efforts to debate and discuss the adverse fallout of demonetisation in parliament was stonewalled by the government.
While a host of opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal-United, participated in the meet, the Left Parties gave it a miss saying that the President has "no role to play in the matter".
The parties said the government's November 8 demonetisation move has created a "deep crisis" in the country, with millions affected by it. "More than 97 people have lost their lives across the states while queuing up outside banks and ATMs," they said.
The parties also expressed shock over Modi's failure to make a statement on the demonetisation issue, informing all the lawmakers about the rationale behind the announcement, process of rollout and the way in which the pain of the masses can be alleviated.
