Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc held a protest with the slogan Save Democracy at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Friday. Sharad Pawar, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M, and other prominent opposition figures shared the dais to express their disapproval of the suspension of 146 opposition MPs from the Parliament’s Winter Session, which was adjourned sine die on Thursday. NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar said the opposition was ready to pay any price to save the democracy.
Taken part in the demonstration, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated that the demonstration aims to convey to the public that the current state of affairs is “bad for the future of the nation.” “There have never been 146 MP suspensions in the global history of democracy. The dangers facing democracy should be known to the public. To inform the public that whatever is going on is detrimental to the nation’s future, protests are being held. People need to overthrow this government and install the INDIA Alliance in its place; that is the only viable option, Tharoor told ANI.
#WATCH | Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and NCP chief Sharad Pawar and leaders of INDIA parties take part in 'Save Democracy' protest against mass suspension of MPs, at Jantar Mantar in Delhi pic.twitter.com/nxslPhTB1V
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2023
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, “It was only natural on the part of the opposition to ask for a statement by the home minister… But the government was adamant in not heeding our request. So there were protests within the Parliament. The reaction of the government was to suspend 146 members of the opposition and ram through laws, which have far-reaching consequences on the daily life of people in India… The government wants to have a parliament which would only be a stamping house for all their laws without any discussion… So they want the Parliament to just be like in China or in North Korea… This is a betrayal of the faith people have in the parliamentary system. We want to highlight this and tell them what is happening in parliament is not good for India…”
Congress MP Manish Tewari said, “To save democracy in the country, all nationalist organisations need to come together and send a message in one voice…” The Members of Parliament, suspended from the Parliament’s Winter Session, were also present in the protest.
