Ahead of the commencement of the Budget session, several opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, on Friday staged a protest in front of the Gandhi Statue in Parliament premises here against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed National Registrar of Citizens (NRC).
The leaders carried placards reading 'Save India', 'Save Constitution' and 'No to CAA, NPR, NRC' and raised slogans 'Stop the politics of hate' and 'Save Our Democracy'.
"The CAA and NRC will create division and hatred among the people of the country and endangers our democracy and secularism. Therefore, we have demanded that CAA be scrapped," said Congress leader Ripun Bora.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has said that the party MPs will listen to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of two Houses of Parliament while wearing black bands around their arms as a mark of protest against the CAA and NRC.
"In protest against attack on the constitution, we will sit and listen to the President's address with black bands around our arms," he said.
President Kovind began delivering a speech in the Central Hall of Parliament at 11 am. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will also chair a meeting of floor leaders of Rajya Sabha at his residence today.The Union Budget will be presented on Saturday. The first phase of the session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and will end on April 3.
( With inputs from ANI )