Parliamentarians of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc will today hold a march from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk in Delhi to address the issue of suspension of opposition MPs in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, ANI reported.
Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi during the opposition MPs' protest against the suspension of MPs for the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed} } {{/userSubscribed}}
Leaders of the INDIA bloc will hold a meeting at the office of Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
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The INDIA bloc members have also planned to protest against the suspension of their MPs at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Friday.
A total of 143 opposition MPs were suspended from both houses of Parliament last week after they held protests and raised slogans demanding Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on the December 13 security breach incident.
On Wednesday, the total number of suspended MPs reached 97 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha.
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The opposition, including the Congress, termed the move dictatorial and said it hurt the country's democratic goodwill.
“It was the right of MPs to ask questions in Parliament. “A large number of people from different parts of the city will raise their voices against the undemocratic move during the protest,” Delhi Congress MP Arvinder Singh Lovely said on Wednesday.
“Most leaders of the INDIA bloc, including the suspended MPs, are expected to take part in the demonstration (on Friday),” said Mukesh Sharma, Delhi Congress spokesperson.
After the Lower House of Parliament suspended the opposition members, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular outlining strict measures to bar the suspended MPs from various parliamentary activities.
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The circular detailed the impact of the suspension and said MPs would be banned from entering the Parliament chamber, lobby and galleries for the duration of their suspension.
Meanwhile, the deadlock between the opposition and the government worsened on Wednesday over Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee's impersonation of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on a mobile camera held by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. The act was condemned by President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dhankhar and other union ministers and BJP MPs.
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