120 Oppn MPs to join sit-in against suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha members
On Thursday, several Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha are also likely to join the dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Parliament complex in solidarity with their Rajya Sabha counterparts, the people cited above said.
At least 120 Opposition MPs of the Rajya Sabha will join a sit-in protest in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, ramping up the agitation against the suspension of 12 members of the Upper House amid hectic consultations over a fresh offensive against the ruling dispensation, according to people aware of the matter.
At least 120 Opposition MPs of the Rajya Sabha will join a sit-in protest in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, ramping up the agitation against the suspension of 12 members of the Upper House amid hectic consultations over a fresh offensive against the ruling dispensation, according to people aware of the matter.
On Thursday, several Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha are also likely to join the dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Parliament complex in solidarity with their Rajya Sabha counterparts, the people cited above said.
The 12 MPs — six from the Congress, two each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena, and one each from the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) — are holding an indefinite sit-in. On Monday last week, they were suspended for the remainder of the winter session after the House passed a motion moved by the government seeking their suspension under Rule 256 for their “unruly and violent behaviour” in the Upper House during the monsoon session.
A senior Congress strategist met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday to discuss the Opposition’s future course of action in the Rajya Sabha, according a person aware of the matter.
The Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting with his party MPs and told them: “Our two MPs have been suspended but all of us are affected. Every day till December 23, all our MPs will join them at the protest site.”
According to a leader of the party, when a senior TMC MP told Banerjee he didn’t get a chance to speak in the House, he said “there is no grey area in protest and the party’s interest has to come first”. Banerjee was clear that the protest must continue, the leader added.
Amid consultations within the Opposition on the protest, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address the Congress parliamentary party meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament at 9.30am on Wednesday. It will be attended by Rahul Gandhi and other members of the party.
In the Upper House, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said the government doesn’t want to pass bills amid a din. “I still request through you, let them be ready to apologise. The whole country has seen it. They were dancing on the table, they went to hit the marshal and tried to throw away the TV screen,” he said, referring to the incidents of the last day of the monsoon session earlier this year.
On the last day of the monsoon session on August 11, some opposition MPs climbed on Rajya Sabha officials’ table, raised slogans, and threw files when the House began a discussion on the farmers’ protest against three laws that now stand scrapped. Opposition parties termed the suspension as “undemocratic”.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated that the government was “responsible for the obstructions” in the Upper House, arguing that the suspension of the 12 Opposition MPs was “wrong”.
“We tried a lot to facilitate the functioning of the House, we met Leader of the House and Chairman repeatedly to put forth our views that MPs can be suspended only as per Rule 256,” Kharge said, ruling out any apology as the government “ignored the rules and wrongfully brought the events of the monsoon session to winter session” to suspend 12 MPs.
The Leader of Opposition added that “we also wanted to raise a number of things such as inflation, the issue of Nagaland”. “So, it seems that the government does not intend to run the House, they do not intend to discuss. And those who are vocal people, if we run the House by keeping them out, then our people will raise questions.”
The Opposition alleged that the government had the Rajya Sabha adjourned early in the day to stop Nagaland MP KG Kenye from speaking on the killing of 14 civilians by the Indian Army in the state.
Abhishek Banerjee and Yechury also said an apology was “out of the question”. Apparently referring to the Congress, TMC leader Derek O’Brien said: “We would have full coordination with all parties. But we are not going to play second fiddle to anyone.”