Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) and Nazira MLA Debabrata Saikia on Saturday condemned the statement of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national President Amit Shah comparing the alliance of opposition parties to dogs, mongoose, cats and snakes.
“The national president of the BJP, Amit Shah, has hit a new low in public discourse by comparing certain Opposition parties, including the Congress, to various animals like dogs, snakes etc., while speaking at an event in Mumbai on April 6,” Saikia said.
Saikia further said that this type of terminology ended up exposing the capacity for hatred harboured by the Speaker.
“It also reveals an utter disregard for preserving the decencies of debate in a democratic milieu. The people of India will undoubtedly give a fitting reply to such coarse and arrogant behaviour from leaders of the ruling party when the time is ripe,” he said.
Shah on the occasion of the BJP’s 38th Foundation Day rally in Mumbai on Friday had said that there was a move to unite all opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
He then likened these parties to snakes, mongooses, cats, dogs and even cheetahs and lions, who climbed up trees in fear of the Modi rising waters.
The Congress and other parties slammed him and demanded respect as the opposition was a powerful arm in a democracy.
Shah was also criticized for using abusive language which the opposition said exposed his stature as a leader.
Shah later clarified that what he had actually meant was that parties with opposing ideologies like the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP)- Congress and Trinamool Congress and Congress coming together just to take on the BJP.