Sonia, Rahul wear black bands, protest MPs'' suspension

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 4

Congress MPs led by party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi wore black bands on Tuesday to protest the suspension of 25 MPs of the party by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

The Congress members, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, 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.

Sonia Gandhi said the suspension of 25 MPs was anti-democratic and described it as murder of democracy.

"It's duty of the government to run the house. The way our MPs were suspended, was anti-democratic. Democracy is being murdered," said Sonia.

Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he must listen to the "mann ki baat" of the nation.

On Monday, Mahajan suspended 25 Congress parliamentarians for five days for "willfully obstructing the business of the house" and not adhering to her repeated warnings for observing rules in the house.

The Congress workers also shouted slogans against the ruling governmnet and waived black flags.

"Many parties like the Trinamool Congress, Left and the Aam Aadmi Party have pledged their support to us and said they will boycott the Lok Sabha proceedings," said Kharge.

The NCP and the Samajwadi Party also joined the protest, which began minutes before the Lok Sabha was to meet at 11 am.

In Lok Sabha, the SP and Janata Dal (U) members protested seeking revocation of the suspension of the MPs. The two parties along with the Left raised slogans and walked out of the House in protest. Meanwhile, the Telegana Rashtra Samiti and the YSR Congress continued their protest in the House over separate issues.

The AIADMK was the only non-NDA party in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.