Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 10: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday hit out at Opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), asserting that India is “not a Banana Republic” and that the country would be governed by Parliament and not from the streets.
Prasad's remarks came after several Opposition leaders, including former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, were detained along with CJP leaders after they attempted to participate in a protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi Police had denied permission for the protest.
Addressing a press conference, Prasad said, “India is not a Banana Republic. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, this country has never bowed and never will.”
“Based on the events of today and the preceding three days, two things have become clear. One, Indian democracy has thwarted attempts to incite anarchy. Two, the country will be governed by Parliament, not by the streets,” he said.
Prasad cited the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's bypoll victories in Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry on Friday, claiming that the results reflected the people's rejection of attempts to create unrest.
“The BJP wishes to particularly highlight that this stellar performance in Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry occurred while a movement for anarchy was underway in Delhi and other parts of the country,” he added.
Maintaining that the Union government was not opposed to protests in a democracy, Prasad accused the Opposition of using street demonstrations as a political weapon following electoral defeats.
“Protests should take place in a democracy. But you have weaponised street protests because of your electoral defeats. And the surprising thing is that you are not even moving together,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Opposition INDIA bloc, Prasad said there was competition among its constituents as well.
“Rahul (Gandhi) ji held on for three days before leaving. Then came CJP, doing 'shadow boxing' for the Aam Aadmi Party. The drama began in the morning, followed by the arrival of Arvind Kejriwal and others. Then Mamata (Banerjee) ji wondered why she should be left behind, so she showed up too, and the CPI/CPI-M also joined the fray. These defeated, desperate individuals have been harassing the people of Delhi for the past three or four days and weaponising street protests,” Prasad remarked.
He said the BJP was proud of the people of India for what he described as thwarting the Opposition's conspiracy.
“We are proud of the people of India for thwarting and defeating this conspiracy of theirs (opposition parties). The dignity of democracy has destroyed the chronic anarchy which the Opposition is trying to ferment,” he added.