New Delhi [India]: Members of Parliament of INDIA bloc parties, including those suspended, are staging a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament premises on Wednesday morning over the suspension of 141 Opposition MPs and the 'security breach' incident.
The opposition lawmakers seem unrelenting on the Parliament security breach incident that happened on December 13 and demand a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah inside the House. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary leader Sonia Gandhi led the protest from the Congress' side while other opposition MPs including those suspended joined in the protest.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, "This is going to be the trend. It's my way or the highway. If you don't fall in line, we will throw you out because we have the majority. We control both the Houses. They want to turn the Parliament into a stamping House..."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said " This is a dubious record in Parliamentary history and a blot on our democracy. Instead of preserving democracy they have done. The most important responsibility of ministers is accountability to Parliament. The Home Minister should have come to the house and spoken about the security breach in the house, but this government doesn't want a discussion. They just want to enforce my way or the highway."
Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said " They want to suspend everyone and run a dictatorship by removing everyone from the house, this won't work in a democracy. this is why we will go to the people. we will continue to protest till they don't revoke suspension and make a statement in the house and initiate a discussion in the house. I am awaiting a response to my letter from the Vice President"
While protesting the opposition MPs were carrying banners of of 'save democracy'.
An unprecedented number of MPs, a total of 141, were suspended from Parliament on Tuesday.
Earlier, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi attacked opposition parties on Tuesday and said that they do not want the House to function and they want to do politics in everything.
"Speaker of the House has written a letter to Secretary Home and has instructed me to get a high-level inquiry (on security beach) done. To increase the security of the new Parliament, a committee has also been constituted under the supervision of DG CRPF. On one hand, there is an investigation going on and on the other hand, the opposition does not want the House to function...Rahul Gandhi has been saying that unemployment is the reason why all this took place. Does Rahul Gandhi support all this? What irresponsible statement is this? They (the opposition) want to do politics in everything," Pralhad Joshi told reporters.
—ANI