14 Opposition parties blame 'arrogant' government for Parliament logjam, demand debate on Pegasus, farmers' issue

The Opposition parties stand firm and united on their demand for a discussion on Pegasus issue in both the Houses

Leaders of 14 Opposition parties on Wednesday put the blame for the disruption of Parliament's Monsoon Session "squarely at the doorsteps" of the government that "refuses" to accept their demand for a discussion first on the Pegasus episode .

Eighteen leaders from 14 parties -- Congress, NCP, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, RJD, CPI(M), CPI, AAP, Muslim League, National Conference, RSP and LJD -- issued a joint statement after a meeting chaired by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

They emphasised that the Opposition stand "firm and united" on their demand for a discussion on Pegasus issue in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to be replied by the Home Minister as it has national security dimensions.

The leaders said they have "unequivocally" conveyed that the discussion on farmers' issue can be held after the debate on Pegasus.

Read | Six TMC MPs suspended for a day in Rajya Sabha for 'placard' protest on Pegasus

They said it was "unfortunate" that the government had "unleashed a misleading campaign to malign the combined opposition" and blamed it for the continued disruption of Parliament proceedings.

"The responsibility for the deadlock lies squarely at the doorsteps of the government, which remains arrogant and obdurate and refuses to accept the opposition's demand for an informed debate in both the houses," the statement said emphasising that the Opposition parties stand "firm and united"

The statement was signed by Kharge, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK's T R Balu and Tiruchi Siva, Congress' Anand Sharma, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav, Trinamool Congress' Derek O' Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut, RJD's Manoj Jha, CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem, CPI's Binoy Viswam, AAP's Sushil Gupta, Muslim League's ET Mohd Basheer, National Conference's Hasnain Masoodi, RSP's NK Premachandran and LJD's MV Shreyams Kumar.

The statement came as the Opposition sought to counter the government narrative on Parliament functioning. At least three meetings of Opposition leaders were held during the day before the afternoon session of Parliament.