MPs’ suspension: Parties join Cong war against govt

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 4

A day after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 Congress MPs for five days, party leaders led by president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and ex-PM Manmohan Singh protested outside Parliament.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Samajwadi Party joined the protest, while other opposition parties boycotted the Lok Sabha proceedings.

Moments before the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were to commence sitting at 11am today, the Congress MPs wore black bands and sat on dharna, waiving black flags. The MPs have been suspended for “willfully obstructing the business of the House”.

Calling the move a “murder of democracy”, Sonia said the MPs’ suspension was anti-democratic. "It's the duty of the government to run the House. The way our MPs were suspended was anti-democratic. Democracy is being murdered," she said.

Manmohan said: "If we want Parliament to run smoothly, it's the responsibility of the government to take our demands into account.”

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said: "The Prime Minister has a habit of sharing his mann ki baat (deepest thoughts). He should also try and listen to the mann ki baat of the people of India."

He reiterated his charge against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, whose resignation the Congress is demanding over the “help” she offered to tainted cricket magnate Lalit Modi. "There is clear evidence that Sushma has flouted the law,” he said.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, and former Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh and Ambika Soni wore black bands on their arms and protested in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament complex.

The Congress got support from the Trinamool Congress, Left, Aam Aadmi Party and others who boycotted the Lok Sabha proceedings. During the Zero Hour, Biju Janata Dal’s Tathagata Satpathy demanded that the suspension be revoked, while AIADMK’s P Venugopal tried to raise the suspension issue but was disallowed by the Speaker. In the Lok Sabha, members of the SP and the Janata Dal (U) sought revocation of the MPs’ suspension.