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‘Are you busy somewhere else’, Actor Prakash Raj questions Modi govt over delayed winter session

The government has been facing flak from the opposition parties over the delay in the winter session. The Congress had earlier said that the government at the centre was using state assembly elections as an excuse for avoiding parliament.

Actor Prakash Raj is not someone who minces his words on issues of national interest. He has been pretty vocal in addressing the problems that plague our society today. He was one of the first persons to raise their voice after the brutal murder of veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh. He was also one of the first actors to come out in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial Padmavati, which has invited protests by fringe groups and the Rajput community across the country over allegations of distorting Rajputana history.

On Saturday, the National-award winning actor took on the Narendra Modi-led government over the delay in starting the winter session of the parliament.

In his post that went with the hashtag #justasking, Raj asked the reason behind the winter session being delayed. “Why is the winter session not happening,” reads the question. Using satire as a weapon, Raj then gives the options to the questions. The first option says that it’s not cold yet while the second option to the question is targeted at the politicians over the upcoming assembly elections and said that they might have been busy somewhere else. “It may get too hot and embarrassing to answer before elections,” reads the third and final option.

Raj has been taking digs at the government and those in authority on his twitter handle over the past few days. Under the hashtag #justasking, he has been asking some valid questions and mocking twitter trolls. For instance, recently he asked the politicians that if they were listening to the people and fulfilling their promises or were they just busy in talking and campaigning for the next elections.

The posts, usually addressed to “whomsoever it may concern” , are usually about boiling issues in the country.

The winter Session of Parliament, which usually begins around the third week of November, is likely to be put off till campaigning ends for the last phase of the Gujarat assembly elections next month, top sources in the government have told the Indian Express.

With Diwali on October 19 this year, political circles have been anticipating a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) to decide the Winter Session dates for a while now.

As per the rules, the dates have to be announced at least 15 days before the session starts, giving MPs enough time to reach Delhi from their respective constituencies. “There will be a substantial delay in the Winter Session of Parliament. It does not seem like the session will start this month. There are indications that the session may actually start after the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, which is on December 12,” a highly placed source told the Indian Express.

The Winter session of Parliament is likely to be held between December 15 and January 5, beginning a day after voting ends for the Gujarat Assembly elections. The final call will be taken in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA). “The session will be convened very soon,” Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel had said on Wednesday.

The government has been facing flak from the opposition parties over the delay in the winter session. The Congress had earlier said that the government at the centre was using state assembly elections as an excuse for avoiding parliament. However, BJP leaders have rubbished the accusations and have been maintaining that the government will soon decide the dates for the session.