As the Congress continued with its protests inside and outside Parliament over suspension of 25 of its lok Sabha MPs and the Opposition again stalled proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP and the Government asked the main Opposition party “to introspect and reconsider its stand.”
For the second day in a row, the Congress did not allow any let-up in its protest against lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s decision to suspend 25 MPs for disrupting lok Sabha proceedings.
The entire Congress leadership — including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and leaders of six other Opposition parties — staged a dharna in the Parliament complex and raised slogans like “End dictatorship,” “Prime Minister break your silence”, “Where have the achchhe din gone”, “Sushma Swaraj resign.”
“We will continue the agitation,” Sonia Gandhi said talking to the media. Sharad Yadav and KC Tyagi of the JD(U), Dharmendra Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Jaya Prakash Narayan Yadav of the RJD, P Karunakaran of the CPI-M, D Raja of the CPI and E Ahamed of the IUMl were among other political party leaders who participated in the protests.
Sonia said she was not aware of any proposal from the Government to end the logjam or revoke the suspension of Congress MPs.
As the main Opposition party made it clear that it would not back down, the Government indicated it was keen to end the impasse in Parliament with the hope that the Congress would allow important legislative business to go through in both the Houses of Parliament.
While keeping up its attack on the Congress for stalling Parliament, the BJP and the Government asked the main Opposition party “to introspect and reconsider its belligerence.” Talking to reporters Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu asked the Congress “to do a favour to the country by allowing legislative business to be taken up in both the Houses of Parliament.”
The suspension of Congress MPs echoed in both Houses in a different way. While the proceedings in the Upper House were disrupted from the word go, the lower House witnessed empty Opposition benches.
BJP member Hukum Singh raised the issue in the lok Sabha while participating in a debate on supplementary demand for grants, noting that the situation was not happy in the House with several seats being vacant.
“We need to convince them (Opposition) to sit in the House and participate in the discussions. The Government and the party (BJP) is trying...But we should continue with our efforts,” he said.
Actor-turned-BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha also expressed unhappiness over the suspension of 25 Congress members.
“Feel unhappy about the developments in Parliament... over the expulsion of 25 learned MP friends, including one who was not even present,” Sinha tweeted.
On Tuesday, Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) had appealed to the Speaker to revoke the suspension of Congress members.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were again washed out as the Congress protested the suspension of its members in lok Sabha. The Upper House met barely for a few minutes as it was repeatedly adjourned because of the ruckus and Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien called it a day. The Upper House has failed to transact any significant business so far during the Monsoon Session since it began on July 21.
The ruckus started soon after the House mourned the death of passengers in derailment of two trains in Madhya Pradesh (MP), when Congress members trooped into the Well, raising slogans against the Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu made a statement on the MP rail accident amid the din.
Protesting Congress members continued to raise slogans against the Government’s “dictatorial” attitude and trooping into the Well, forcing two adjournments in the pre-lunch session and then finally till Thursday, attracting strong rebukes from the Chair.
The party’s chief whip in lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia said suspended MPs will not seek an apology from Speaker Mahajan, who, he alleged, had acted “partially” against Congress members. He claimed that some 200 members of the BJP had raised placards in the current session itself, but not one of them was suspended.
Though BSP members were not noticed in the protest, but BSP leader Mayawati said suspension of 25 Congress MPs was not right and it should be revoked.
After repeated pleas by Kurien went unheeded, he said, “this is nothing but indiscipline. Because of the unruly behaviour of some of the members, I am forced to adjourn the House.”