Leaders of several Opposition parties on Thursday took out a protest march against the Government on several issues, including Pegasus and alleged manhandling of their MPs in the Rajya Sabha, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the voice of people was “crushed” in the House. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar and several top Opposition leaders regretted the way the Monson Session was conducted without giving an audience to the large number of Opposition MPs.
The Opposition accused the Government of deliberately derailing Parliament and alleged that the Opposition MPs, including women members, were manhandled by outsiders who were not part of Parliament security. Pawar has alleged that outsiders were called in to manhandle Opposition leaders, including women MPs, before the Upper House was adjourned sine die.
“In 55 years of my Parliamentary career, I have never seen this kind of behaviour towards women MPs in the august House. More than 40 men and women were brought into the House from outside. It is painful. It is an attack on democracy,” Pawar alleged.
In a joint statement, Opposition leaders condemned the “authoritarian attitude” and “undemocratic actions” of the Government and said what had happened in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was shocking and an insult to the dignity of the House and humiliation of the members.
The Opposition leaders also called on Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and complained against the alleged manhandling of its MPs, including women members, following which Naidu conveyed that details are being minutely examined.
Gowda urged the Centre and the Opposition to find a “middle path” to ensure Parliament’s next session in November functions properly, saying being “terribly adamant” or over enthusiastic are both dangerous.
The top leaders of several Opposition parties met in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and then walked in protest from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk. Those who attended the meeting included Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, RJD Manoj Jha and other Opposition leaders. TMC, AAP and BSP were not part of the meeting of Opposition leaders which was also attended by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
The protest comes a day after the passage of bills in Rajya Sabha amid charges of manhandling of the Opposition leaders. The protesting MPs carried placards and banners against the Government that read “Stop murder of democracy” and “we demand repeal of anti farmers laws”.
“The Parliament session is over. Frankly, as far as 60 per cent of country is concerned, there was no Parliament session as the voice of 70 per cent of people was crushed, humiliated. On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha MPs were physically beaten. The Opposition was not allowed to speak inside Parliament and this is nothing short of murder of democracy,” Rahul said to the media.
In a joint statement, the leaders of 11 Opposition parties alleged that without any provocation from the Opposition “outsiders who were not part of Parliament security were brought in to manhandle the Opposition leaders and members, including women Parliamentarians who were only protesting against the Government’s conduct, highhandedness and muzzling of the voice”. “What happened in Rajya Sabha yesterday was shocking, unprecedented, sad and an insult to the very dignity of the House and humiliation of the members of the august House,” they said in the joint statement.
The leaders who signed the joint statement include Kharge, Sharad Pawar, T R Baalu and Tiruchi Shiva of DMK, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Anand Sharma of Congress, Ramgopal Yadav of SP, Sanjay Raut( Shiv Sena), Manoj Jha (RJD), Elamaram Kareem of CPI(M), ET Mohd. Basheer of IUML, Binoy Viswam of CPI, NK Premachandran of RSP, and Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress (M).
The leaders said the combined Opposition had unanimously conveyed to the Government at the all-party meeting that they proposed to discuss important national issues and matters of public concern which include the Pegasus issue which has serious implications for national security, farmers’ agitation resulting from the three farm laws and rising prices of essential commodities, food grains, petrol, diesel and LPG which has burdened the people, besides the state of the economy.
The tumultuous Monsoon session of Parliament was on Wednesday curtailed by two days even as an anguished Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu broke down over the huge ruckus in the House equating the act of some Opposition MPs to “sacrilege in temple of democracy” and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying he was “extremely hurt” by continuous disruptions.