Opposition leaders protest in Parliament over Delhi air pollution

Leaders of various Opposition parties on Thursday staged a protest in Parliament complex over the issue of air pollution in the national capital, with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi asking the Government to take action.

Carrying placards, leaders of various parties raised slogans outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament, asking the prime minister to stop making statements and fix the problem.

Some of the MPs also wore masks at the protest to highlight the problem of air pollution. They also carried a big banner that said ‘mausam ka mazaa lijiye’ (Enjoy the weather), carrying a picture of the prime minister, who had made these remarks at the start of the Winter session of Parliament.

Protesting MPs of various parties also raised slogans against the Government, demanding action to tackle air pollution and carried posters that read — “Make polluters pay, not citizens’, ‘Air quality — action now’, ‘Don’t choke our future’, ‘Clean air is a right, not a luxury’.

“It is the Government’s responsibility to do something as children are dying. Old people like me are also finding it difficult,” Sonia Gandhi told reporters after participating in the protest.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was among the opposition leaders present at the protest. “Our question on polluted air — Why does everyone in this city seem troubled’. Modi ji’s response — ‘Enjoy the weather’. Our protest in Parliament against the BJP’s indifference towards poisonous air,” Kharge said in a social media post later while sharing a video of the protest.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she has been demanding a discussion and concrete action on the issue, which was not political. “Air pollution is not a political issue. The Government should take concrete action, we are all with it,” she said, adding that people are suffering.

Taking a dig at the prime minister for saying ‘enjoy the weather’, she said, “In Delhi, children and the elderly are unable to breathe.”