Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 4 : Congress leader Madhu Goud Yaskhi on Tuesday condemned the BJP-led central government for restricting the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi from speaking during the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.
Underscoring the role of opposition in the democracy, Yaskhi called the incident "complete dictatorship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government."
"As a member of parliament for 10 years, I can say that nothing like this has ever happened in history. The LoP doesn't represent just one political party but all entied political opposition parties in the Lok Sabha. Democracy can't survive without strong opposition. This is a complete dictatorship of PM Modi and the central government. Forcing the speaker, undermining his position, and not allowing LoP to speak on the president's address. This is against basic principles of democracy and the constitution," Yaskhi told ANI.
He further called for public protests against the central government and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
"I urge the people of India to raise their voice against the NDA government and the undemocratic functioning of the speaker of the Lok Sabha," he added.
Moreover, the Congress leader hit back at Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP national president Nitin Nabin over their campaign in the Telangana municipal elections.
Yaskhi criticised the parties' campaign narrative and asserted that the Congress remained confident of public support in the urban local body polls.
"Congress party is going to sweep the municipal elections scheduled to happen next week. The BJP National President, the Prime Minister, or the entire BJP clan can campaign anywhere, but all 8 seats led by the BJP will come to Congress. They will lose miserably, no matter how much they campaign and however much money they spend," he asserted.
"Pawan Kalyan is supporting the BJP more than his party. Let anyone come and campaign for the BJP. We will win the municipal elections under the leadership of CM Revanth Reddy," he added.
Last week, the Telangana State Election Commission announced the official schedule for the municipal elections, with polling on February 11 and results on February 13.
Elections are scheduled for 116 municipalities and seven corporations.
On Monday last week, the Telangana State cabinet decided to conduct municipal elections at the earliest and directed officials to complete all necessary arrangements by February.
The decision came after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at Medaram in Mulugu district on January 18, according to highlights of the meeting shared by the Telangana Chief Minister's Office.
Elections are due in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across the State, covering 2,996 wards and divisions whose terms have expired. The Cabinet noted that the reservation process has already been completed as per the Dedicated Commission's report.