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BJP holds parliamentary party meeting outside Parliament, at 'significant' venue
The BJP parliamentary party meeting comes amid repeated adjournments by opposition parties over suspension of 12 members of Parliament (MPs). These leaders are demanding the revocation of their suspension.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held the meeting of its parliamentary party at Dr Ambedkar International Centre at Delhi’s Janpath on Tuesday. The meeting took place outside Parliament House complex as repair works going on in the auditorium, where all party MPs meet.
The choice of the venue is significant as the centre is dedicated to Dalit stalwart BR Ambedkar, whose death anniversary was marked on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal, S Jaishankar, Pralhad Joshi, Jitendra Singh and others attended the meeting along with BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister asked party lawmakers to organise programmes in their respective constituencies to felicitate Padma awardees. "Padma Award has been conferred upon common citizens who are doing good work. PM has said to organise events, with such awardees being on live contact," parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said while speaking to reporters later.
The meeting comes amid repeated adjournments by opposition parties over suspension of 12 members of Parliament (MPs). These leaders are demanding the revocation of their suspension. Due to the protests, Rajya Sabha saw five adjournments on Monday, with the House clocking only 45 minutes of proceedings.
The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.
They were suspended for unruly conduct during the monsoon session of Parliament in August. Marshals were called after opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.
“We explained why they had to be suspended. The country has witnessed whatever took place. It's on record. If they apologise even today, we're ready to withdraw the suspension,” Pralhad Joshi said today.
Since after their suspension, all the 12 MPs regularly visit the Parliament and keep sitting outside Mahatma Gandhi Statue.
