The suspension of 146 opposition MPs is the subject of a protest by leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc here in the nation’s capital today. Protesting at the Jantar Mantar at 11 am will be the members of Parliament, who have been suspended from the Winter Session of Parliament, which was adjourned sine die on Thursday. Additionally, the Congress Party has planned a nationwide demonstration at each of its district offices for today. Among the lawmakers suspended was Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who declared on Thursday that all states would participate in the INDIA bloc’s Friday protest. “It’s appropriate to protest and all of us will be at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The INDIA alliance protest will happen everywhere tomorrow (Friday) morning in all the states because we want to show the public that if they’d run Parliament like this and won’t listen to the opposition then they are ruining the democracy,” he had said.
Aam Aadmi Party MPs including ND Gupta, Sandeep Pathak, Sant Balbir Seecehwal, and Sanjeev Arora will join the INDIA bloc protest today.
A total of 146 MPs — 100 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha — are currently suspended so far for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses, while they were demanding a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah about the Parliament security breach incident.
Earlier on Thursday, after the conclusion of the 262nd Session of the Rajya Sabha, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he is pained to state that nearly 22 hours of the Upper House were lost due to avoidable disruptions.