Opposition parties may boycott Tuesday’s special joint sitting in Parliament, organised on the occasion of Constitution Day, in protest against what they are calling the “murder of democracy” in Maharashtra and the “manhandling” of women MPs by security staff in the Lok Sabha. The parties — 12 so far — along with some Independent members will assemble below the statue of B R Ambedkar to protest against the situation in Maharashtra. It will be led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who personally reached out to many opposition parties on Monday to join the agitation and to discuss the joint sitting. The parties expected to be at the protest are the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Shiv Sena, CPI, CPI(M), SP, BSP, AAP, JD(S), RSP and IUML. The special sitting in the Central Hall to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution in 1949 will be addressed by President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Sources say while there is an “overall consensus” among the parties that a boycott of the high profile event would send the message of a Constitution under attack, there are also concerns about whether the boycott could backfire and give addition ammunition to the government to pin the opposition down on a charge of disrespecting the Constitution. There is, however, unanimity about the first part of the programme - the protest at the Ambedkar statue. TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said, “All the opposition parties have decided to meet at 10 am tomorrow morning because the Constitution is being murdered. We will meet below the statue of B R Ambedkar in Parliament. Subsequently we will take a call on the joint session, whether to boycott it or not.” An opposition source said, “We are all more or less on the same page - that we will protest below the Ambedkar statue and then boycott the special sitting. However, the DMK is keen to attend the session. We are working so that the opposition puts up a united front on this issue at least and cracks do not show. That is why we have refrained from any official statements on the boycott, but at this point of time it seems very unlikely that the opposition will go to Central Hall tomorrow.”
