50 crore people pushed to streets, Priyanka Gandhi sips tea with Modi: John Brittas MP

New Delhi: CPI M Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Monday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and few Opposition leaders for attending a tea meeting hosted by the BJP government soon after the passage of the VB G RAM G Bill, calling it a 'moral collapse of the Opposition' and a 'dark stain on Indian democracy'.

While responding to the media in the national capital, Brittas said the spectacle of a few Opposition leaders sharing tea with the Prime Minister and the Speaker within hours of the Bill’s passage was deeply disturbing, particularly when the legislation threatens the lives and livelihoods of nearly 50 crore poor people.

Brittas questioned the legitimacy of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s presence at the tea meeting, pointing out that several Opposition parties had boycotted the event in protest. He said there was no consultation or discussion among Opposition parliamentary party members on attending the meeting. “This was a gathering meant for parliamentary party representatives. What formal role does Priyanka Gandhi hold in the Congress Parliamentary Party?” he asked.

Brittas noted that Priyanka Gandhi is neither a leader nor a deputy leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, nor its chief whip. “Even parliamentary secretaries such as M K Raghavan did not attend. Then on what authority did she represent the Opposition?” he asked.

He also highlighted that senior DMK leaders, including T R Baalu and Kanimozhi, stayed away, while parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party had boycotted the meeting entirely. “Why is the media not raising these questions to Priyanka Gandhi?” Brittas asked, calling her participation politically unjustifiable and deeply damaging to Opposition unity.

He said the BJP government had already weakened the employment guarantee law and pushed crores of marginalised people into distress through bulldozer -driven evictions. 'Against this background, such gestures of political cordiality are indefensible,' he said.

Brittas recalled that Opposition parties had boycotted similar tea meetings in earlier parliamentary sessions, even when issues were far less grave. 'This time, the Opposition had a clear reason. The Centre refused to hold a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision. That alone warranted a boycott,' he said.

Calling the VB G RAM G Bill a 'sham' and 'unprecedented in its undemocratic character', Brittas said there was no parallel in Indian legislative history for such a law being rushed through Parliament without debate. 'Opposition parties only asked for the Bill to be sent to a Select Committee for at least 15 days. This has been accepted many times in the past,' he said.

He pointed out that even during the Rajiv Gandhi era, contentious issues such as the Bofors scandal were discussed in Parliament.'Rajiv Gandhi agreed to debate it despite being the prime accused. That parliamentary tradition has now been destroyed,' Brittas said.

The CPI M MP accused the BJP of 'murdering Gandhi once again' through this legislation, warning that its impact would be devastating for the poor. He noted that the Bill was pushed through the Rajya Sabha within hours of its passage in the Lok Sabha, leaving no room for democratic scrutiny.

Brittas was particularly critical of Priyanka Gandhi, accusing her of sending the wrong political message by attending the tea meeting. He referred to her recent praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits and said she had remained silent on the Centre’s failure to provide adequate funds for Wayanad rehabilitation.

'She forgets that this same government has denied justice to disaster-hit people in Wayanad. She hesitates to speak on that. Is this how an Opposition responds, by exchanging praises over tea?” he asked. ​