New Delhi: The INDIA bloc took to the streets in Delhi Friday to protest the mass suspension of Opposition legislators during the Winter Session of Parliament.
Opposition MPs Thursday had marched from Vijay Chowk to the new Parliament building for the same.
As many as 146 MPs were suspended from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha this past week for vociferously demanding a statement from the government over the 13 December Parliament security breach. The BJP-led ruling government, on the other hand, is sticking to its decision to order a detailed probe into the incident and not holding a debate in the house over this.
At Friday’s protests in Jantar Mantar, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala said the bloc would continue to fight for the dignity of Parliament and the Constitution. “The Parliament was attacked. Two men entered the Lok Sabha and exploded gas canisters. These were harmless gases. But what would have happened if they were poisonous gases, like anthrax? Rahul Gandhi is right. Such accidents will happen as long as there is inflation and unemployment,” he said.
On 13 December — exactly 22 years to the day since the Parliament attack in 2001 — two men jumped down from the visitors’ gallery and set off yellow smoke-emitting canisters. Two others protested outside Parliament, shouting: “Tanashahi nahi chalegi (down with dictatorship)”. Two more have been arrested along with them for facilitating the intrusion.
Congress’s Mohammad Azharuddin said Friday that it was the privilege of MPs to present their opinion in Parliament. He said there was no democracy in the country if 146 MPs could be suspended and not allowed to speak.
VIDEO | Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and other leaders join opposition's protest against suspension of MPs at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. pic.twitter.com/mL8lKcsEec
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 22, 2023
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said such bulk suspension was unheard of in Indian history. “It is necessary to keep away the people who are ruling today if we are to preserve the character of the country of a secular democracy,” Yechury said.
He demanded a statement from the present government on the security breach, reminding it that then BJP Home Minister L.K Advani had addressed Parliament after the last attack in 2001, which killed several security men. “Why is that not happening today? We demand an answer,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi mocked BJP parliamentarians for “running away” from the scene when the intruders set off the gas canisters in Lok Sabha. “Those who call themselves patriots got scared… But what was the reason behind the intrusion?” Gandhi asked the audience. He said those who intruded were unemployed and angry with the unemployment in the country.
He said an informal survey had revealed that today’s youth in India spend an average of seven and a half hours checking social media on their phones. “Why? Because Narendra Modi has not given them a job,” Gandhi added.
VIDEO | "We have to fight unitedly. PM Modi is trying to instill fear among us through ED and CBI but the Congress won't be scared," says Congress chief @kharge during the Opposition rally at Jantar Mantar. pic.twitter.com/nSD6qLYWzK
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 22, 2023
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge warned the government that the more it tried to crush the Opposition, the higher it would rise. “We are fighting unitedly to save the country, and democracy,” he said, three days after the last meeting of the INDIA alliance where his name was proposed as its Prime Minister face. Kharge had turned it down, saying it was important to win the 2024 elections first.
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