120 Opposition RS MPS to join sit-in against suspensions
NEW DELHI: 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.
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.”
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.
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. 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.