I.N.D.I.A bloc protests suspension of oppn MPs, Kharge says democracy under threat

New Delhi: Top leaders and MPs of the I.N.D.I.A bloc on Friday staged a protest here with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi linking the security breach to unemployment in the country and saying that the suspension of MPs seeking a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah was an insult not just to the lawmakers but to 60% voters and an attempt to silence them.

Leaders and MPs from at least 16 I.N.D.I.A parties participated in the dharna at Jantar Mantar where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge once again criticised Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar invoking his caste following a Trinamool Congress MP mimicking him and Rahul shooting its video.

Addressing the protest, Rahul recalled the December 13 security breach, which he described as “wrong”, and said one should look at how the youth managed to enter the House with gas canisters but at the same time one should also ask why they do it.

“Two-three youths entered Parliament and released smoke. At this, BJP MPs ran away. In this incident, there is the question of security breach, but there is another question of why they protested this way. The answer is unemployment in the country,” he said.

He said a survey showed that youths are spending around seven and half hours on social media on the phone. “Why are they on the phone for such a long time? That is because Modi has not given them employment…The media is not showing that, they say Rahul Gandhi shot a video, they didn’t say 146 MPs were suspended,” he said.

Rahul said the more hatred BJP spreads, the more love and brotherhood I.N.D.I.A parties will spread, he said.

Kharge told the gathering that democracy is under threat in the country. “When all unite, Narendra Modi won't be able to do anything... The more you try to crush us, the more we will rise. We are fighting unitedly to save the country and democracy,” he said.

He referred to the controversy over the “mimicry” of Dhankhar and said without taking his name that people holding Constitutional positions are invoking caste, saying he is insulted and someone is insulting his caste.

“You have promised to act according to the Constitution but you are talking about casteism. If you are talking about casteism, then what about a Dalit like me? When I stand up in Parliament to raise issues of rape of women, or atrocities against or when farmers and laborers are killed and the Constitution is flouted, I am not allowed to speak," he said.

NCP’s Sharad Pawar said democracy is under attack and the government is thinking that they could silence the country by taking action against the MPs. “We are ready to pay any price to save democracy,” he said.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Modi government is talking about ‘Amrit Kaal’ and people should understand that the ‘amrit’ (nectar) is in the hands of wrong people. It is important that the good people reclaim the ‘amrit’ and to do that, the bad ones should be kept away from power, he said.

CPI’s D Raja said what happened is not the suspension of MPs but actually the suspension of Parliament itself. “BJP must be defeated to save democracy,” he said.

CPI(ML)L General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the BJP is treating the Parliament as an “election sabha” and they are insulting it. RJD’s Manoj K Jha said, “streets do not have presiding officers to stop the ‘toofan’ (storm of the Opposition).”