Mallikarjun Kharge said the coalition also passed a resolution condemning the suspension and calling the action "undemocratic".
Published Dec 20, 2023 | 11:05 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 20, 2023 | 11:05 AM
File picture of INDIA bloc meeting held in New Delhi.
The Opposition INDIA bloc will hold a nationwide protest on Friday, 22 December, against the suspension of 141 MPs from Parliament, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Tuesday after a meeting of the coalition.
He said that the coalition also passed a resolution condemning the suspension and calling the action “undemocratic”.
As many as 49 more Opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs suspended in both Houses of Parliament to 141.
Addressing a press conference after the INDIA bloc meeting, Kharge said, “If we have to save democracy, we will have to fight together and all of us are ready for this fight.”
This is for the first time in India’s history that such a thing has happened, Kharge said. “The issue that we had raised in the House was not a wrong one….How did those people enter Parliament? Who facilitated their entry?”
“We had been saying this earlier, Home Minister (Amit Shah) or Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) should come to House and apprise the House about the incident. But they did not agree. I do not understand. Parliament is going on and they go for an inauguration in Ahmedabad…Modi ji goes to his constituency, is giving speeches everywhere, why did he not come to Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha? Their intention is to finish democracy,” Kharge charged.
जो मुद्दा हमने संसद में उठाया था वो केवल ये था कि जो लोग सदन के अंदर सुरक्षा तोड़कर आये, वो कैसे आये? किसने उनको संसद के अंदर घुसने दिया। किस ढंग से वो सब तरफ़ नारेबाज़ी किए? कैसे उन लोगों ने पीले रंग का धुँआ छोड़ा?
हम पहले से यही कह रहें हैं कि गृहमंत्री या प्रधानमंत्री जी सदन… pic.twitter.com/OM2uFHWCe3
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) December 19, 2023
This is the first instance that so many people have been suspended, he said.
The Prime Minister and the Home Minister are thinking that no one is better than them at ruling over the country. “We have united to change that mindset,” the Congress national chief said.
A nationwide protest will be held on 22 December against the suspension of MPs, he added.
While the Opposition bloc has slammed as “undemocratic” the suspension of MPs for display of placards demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the 13 December security breach in Parliament, the government justified the action saying that the suspended MPs insulted the Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Chairman and the institution of Parliament.
On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.
Around the same time, two others, including a woman, raised slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters outside the Parliament premises, prompting police to round up the duo.
