Parliament Winter Session Day 4: ‘Not a political issue,’ says Cong MP Priyanka Gandhi as Oppn protests over rising air pollution in North India
As the 2025 Parliament Winter Session entered its fourth day on Thursday, Opposition MPs staged a protest outside Parliament over rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR and other parts of North India, news agency ANI reported. Speaking to reporters, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the air pollution “not a political issue,” urging government to take action. Vadra said, “The situation keeps getting worse year after year. Only statements are made every year, no concrete action is taken. We have all said that the Govt has to take action and we all stand with them. This is not a political issue that we would point fingers at each other…”
Earlier, the Congress MPs moved adjournment motion notices in the Lok Sabha to discuss the rising air pollution. Congress MP Manickam Tagore, in his notice wrote, “Government remains paralysed, issuing advisories instead of [taking] action, committees instead of solutions, slogans instead of a coordinated national strategy.” The party urged the Centre to declare air pollution as a national health emergency.
Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to move the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025, for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha today, days after being introduced in the Lower House. Opposition leader Karti Chidambaram on Wednesday said merely hiking a “sin tax” is not going to reduce consumption and that the government needed a holistic plan to reduce consumption and move those employed in the allied industries to give them an alternative source of income.
