Dressed in black, Opposition MPs stage protest over Adani issue, Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Dressed in black and some even covering their mouth with black cloth, the Opposition MPs on Monday disrupted Parliament proceedings for the 11th consecutive day over Adani Group issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification even as the Trinamool Congress joined the non-NDA grouping for the first time for a protest march.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed a charged-up Opposition shouting slogans against Modi and Adani, leading to another day of no business – Lok Sabha ran for a total seven minutes and Rajya Sabha 13 minutes.

Speaker Om Birla and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the Houses within a minute during the morning session, as placard-wielding MPs from the Opposition waved black scarves, demanding a discussion on the Adani affair and protesting against Rahul's disqualification. In Lok Sabha, Congress MPs Hibi Eden and TN Prathapan hurled order papers and their black scarves at the chair.

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Similar scenes were witnessed in the afternoon session with Rajya Sabha adjourning for the day after returning the Jammu and Kashmir Budget, Appropriation Bills and Finance Bill without any discussion, amid Opposition MPs rushing into the Well of the House demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani affair. Lok Sabha saw just six minutes of proceedings in the second session.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was seen wearing a black scarf, while Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wore a black turban and kurta. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was also wearing a black kurta. "The Opposition MPs are wearing black because the Prime Minister is finishing democracy," Kharge said.

While TMC MPs attended both the Houses by covering their mouths with black cloth, some MPs who were not in black attire wore black armbands.

The protest inside the House was followed by a joint march by the Opposition from Gandhi Statue in Parliament to Vijay Chowk with the MPs carrying a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards which read, "Save Democracy", "Dear ED daro mat, Adani par raid karo (ED don't be scared, raid Adani)", "Investigate Scamsters Modani" and "ED-Modani Bhai, Bhai".

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The decision to hold the protest march was taken at a meeting of Opposition leaders chaired by Kharge, who is also Congress president.

Interestingly, Trinamool Congress, which has been avoiding meetings called by Kharge, attended the meeting and participated in the protest march. However, it did not send senior leaders Sudip Bandhyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien but second rung MPs Prasoon Banerjee and Jawahar Sircar.

With Opposition leaders by his side, Kharge told reporters at Vijay Chowk, "How has Adani's wealth multiplied so much in the last few years...The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani. We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe? It means 'daal mein kuch kala hai' (something is wrong)."

On disqualification of Rahul, he said "You want to defame Rahul Gandhi, that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy."