Leaders of the opposition-led Indian Inclusive Development Alliance (INDIA) bloc are set to take to the streets today to protest the suspension of a historic number of MPs from Parliament in an “undemocratic manner” during the winter session. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party president Rahul Gandhi and other members of the alliance will address the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi at 11 am.
Meanwhile, Karji said a nationwide protest is scheduled to be held in all district headquarters.
This was followed by a series of suspensions in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha after the winter session witnessed unrest following the Parliament security incident on December 13 with Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a statement on the issue. Before the session finally concluded, three more opposition MPs were suspended in the Lok Sabha, taking the total number of suspensions to a record 146.
On Thursday, opposition MPs, including those arrested, marched from Parliament to Vijay Chowk as a mark of protest against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankar’s move.
During the earlier protest, Karg had urged the government to “act democratically”, alleging that the BJP had no faith in democracy.
“Parliament is a big panchayat. If no one speaks in Parliament where will they speak. It is unfortunate that Home Minister Shah and Prime Minister Modi did not come to the House to report the security breach. They spoke about the issues that need to be spoken about in the House and outside it,” he added, adding That Prime Minister Modi violated parliamentary privilege by not speaking about the issue of security breach within Parliament.
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