UPA chairperson and interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi today demanded a full-fledged discussion in Parliament on border issues and also termed the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs as ‘unprecedented and unacceptable’. Sonia Gandhi made the remarks while addressing the General Body Meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Central Hall of Parliament.

“We demand a full-fledged discussion in Parliament on border issues,” said Sonia Gandhi. The Congress has been cornering the Modi government over the row with China along the LAC and has given repeated adjournment motions in Parliament for a discussion on the issue.

Expressing solidarity with the 12 suspended Rajya Sabha MPs, Gandhi termed the move as ‘unprecedented and unacceptable’.

She also hit out at the Modi government calling it insensitive towards farmers and common people. “Let’s honour the 700 farmers who sacrificed their lives during the agitation. The Modi government is insensitive towards farmers and common people. The rise in prices of essential commodities is burning the monthly budget of every family,” said Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress president alleged that the stock market scaling new heights or a few big firms making profits cannot serve as indicators of an economic recovery. She claimed that the economy had lost momentum well before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and blamed the Modi government’s ‘ill-advised’ response for further downfall.

Sonia Gandhi also said that the Centre’s regret over the Nagaland incident is not enough and credible steps should be taken to prevent such tragedies in the future. This was the Congress Parliamentary Party’s first physical meeting since 2019. The physical meeting was suspended owing to the COVID-19 situation.