New Delhi: Opposition parties MPs of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha took out a protest march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk, on Thursday, against the Central Government over the curtailment of Monsoon Session and alleging Centre of manhandling of MPs in Rajya Sabha. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was also present in this protest. However, AAP and TMC members skipped the protest march.
While addressing the media, Rahul Gandhi said, "Today, we had here to speak to you since we are not allowed to speak in Parliament. This is a murder of democracy. Parliament session is over. As far as 60% of the country is concerned, there was no Parliament session. The voice of 60 percent population was crushed and humiliated in Parliament."
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa said, "Farmers are sitting at Delhi border for last nine months. More than 500 farmers have lost their lives but this government is not ready to hold talks with them again. They don't have a proper data of Covid-19 cases and deaths. This govt has failed on all fronts."
He even called yesterday a "black day" for Indian Democracy alleging that the Central government deployed marshals inside the Parliament who had "physically assaulted" women MPs from the Opposition. When asked about the incident where he had thrown a book at the chair of the house while protesting against the three farm laws within the house, Bajwa replied, "I don't think I have done anything wrong."
Read: Women MPs 'manhandled' in RS: Centre counters with CCTV footage
Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal replied to ETV Bharat's question over government blaming the Opposition for disruptions in the Parliament's, saying, "Those who are aware of Parliamentary procedure, won't agree with the government's viewpoint. What happened yesterday and day before yesterday was totally unprecedented in the history of Indian Parliament. They used Marshals to book our women MPs because they were opposing the anti-people Insurance Bill."
He also slammed the government and Twitter India since twitter accounts of many Congress party leaders have been locked for violating the social media norms, "These are all the tricks of government to suppress the common people's voice. Twitter is also joining hands with the government. This is very unfortunate."
Congress MP Manish Tewari said, "Government by its obdurate attitude, has wiped out four weeks of Parliament session, brazenly passed legislation and trampled upon all democratic traditions. Our message to Government of India is that under no circumstances, would we allow democracy to be murdered which has been done in the past four weeks."
Manickam Tagore, Congress MP, also launched an attack on the Government, saying, "The Opposition's voice is not being heard in both the houses of Parliament. For the last 14 days, the Parliament has not been able to function, there was no discussion. Today, the opposition led a protest march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk to express our dissatisfaction on the way Parliament has been functioning and how democracy has been murdered."
Congress Chief Whip K Suresh informed that the Opposition parties will continue these protests in the upcoming days raising the key issues against the Central Government. DMK's MP TKS Elangovan said, "This government does not want to discuss people's issues. Their entire attempt is to appease their bosses and sell the Government institutions to private sector. Yesterday they adjourned the houses, although we had two more days. If they had allowed us to discuss these issues then the problem would have been resolved."
Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Vishambhar Prasad Nishad asserted that the entire Opposition is united and will continue to protest against the Central Government. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asserted, "We must safeguard our democracy. It includes passing laws with discussion, it includes consulting everyone while making major decisions that affect millions of Indians and it includes conducting Parliament in a democratic manner including facing questions from the Opposition which this Government is unprepared to do."
Later, a delegation of Opposition MPs met Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to apprise him of yesterday's incident in Upper house. They accused the Government of not following parliamentary norms and "bulldozing" the legislations.
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