All Congress MPs should be part of Parliament protests, especially when Kharge is present: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: As Congress continued its protest on Adani issue in Parliament in a new form, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday told party MPs that their attendance is important, especially when party chief Mallikarjun Kharge is participating in it.

As Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee raised I.N.D.I.A. leadership issue and several others joining in, Rahul also told them not to enter into a war of words with leaders of other parties over issues like who would lead I.N.D.I.A. bloc or over participation of certain parties in Congress-led protests in Parliament. He said the leadership is capable of addressing it. 

Rahul’s remarks came at a meeting of Congress Lok Sabha MPs at Parliament Annexe here. He also said they were continuously evaluating the performance of party MPs, including their participation in protests outside the House. 

Sources said Rahul emphasised on the importance of the participation of MPs in the protest in Parliament House complex, as it is "important for the party" and they should not be swayed by opinions that such protests are of no use.

With several MPs remaining absent when Kharge himself was present at the protest where MPs wore masks of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he instructed them to be present when the Congress president is present. Sources said newly-elected MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had nudged MPs to come up with innovative ideas of protest as conventional marches and sit-in protests were not attracting eye-balls.

Congress has been using different ways to present their protest in Parliament House, with the party MPs, who are also joined by I.N.D.I.A. bloc members barring Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress, wearing stickers on T-shirts and winter jackets with pictures and slogans on Adani and Modi as well as carrying black bags with slogans, as one saw on Tuesday.

On Monday, Rahul had a mock interview of two MPs -- Manickam Tagore wearing Adani mask and Shivaji Kalge wearing Modi's -- during the protest in front of Makar Dwar in Parliament House, which went viral.

The protests, however, did not go well with Speaker Om Birla, who had earlier objected to the Opposition MPs blocking the entrance to the inconvenience of other lawmakers. 

On Tuesday, he told Lok Sabha, “Ours is the largest democracy in the world and it fulfils the hopes and aspirations of the people. Agreement and disagreement are part of the healthy democratic process.”

“We all have to maintain the dignity of the House. But I have seen that in the last few days, protests have taken place in premises with objectionable slogans and posters, which were not good. It was noticed that even senior leaders took part in these incidents, which was not good,” he said.

He said both Opposition and ruling party members should maintain dignity and work in such a way that a positive message goes out of Parliament.