New Delhi: Protesting the suspension of 146 MPs from the two Houses of Parliament during the winter session, the Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday took to the streets of the Capital for the second consecutive day. Opposition leaders called for the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, accusing the ruling party of stifling the voice of the Opposition.
Staging a protest at Jantar Mantar here, the bloc also urged people to unite to save democracy in the country.
The protest organised under the banner of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and the leaders of Left parties, DMK, NCP, SP, NC, TMC, JMM, RJD and other members of the Opposition coalition.
Addressing the gathering, Kharge said the leaders of the INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the BJP-led government.
“When everyone unites, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will not 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.
“Modiji and (Home Minister) Amit Shahji have taken the responsibility to destroy democracy and the Constitution. These people are working to crush the Dalits, tribals, labourers, women and farmers. That is why we have formed the INDIA bloc to save the country,” the Congress chief said.
“People holding high constitutional posts say that ‘I am a man of this caste, hence they are insulting me. We are not even allowed to read the notice in the House. So can I say that the Modi government does not even allow Dwalits to speak?” Kharge asked the gathering.
Noting that the freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution and this freedom was given to people by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and B R Ambedkar, he said, “We are not afraid of the Modi government. No matter how hard you try to bury us in the ground, we are those seeds who have the habit of growing again and again.”
“You threw out the Opposition MPs from Parliament and passed all the laws without any Opposition. This is not good for democracy,” the Congress chief said.
Gandhi said the Opposition members were suspended from Parliament for demanding answers from Shah on the December 13 Parliament security breach issue.
“The more hatred the BJP spreads, the more love and brotherhood the INDIA parties will spread,” he said.
By shunting out 150 MPs from Parliament, the government has shut out the voice of 60 per cent Indians, he added.
Gandhi said during the Parliament security breach incident, those who call themselves “deshbhakt” ran away when smoke billowed out of cans. “Unki hawa nikal gaya” by seeing merely a little smoke inside Parliament, he said.
“The issue is how did they enter Parliament. How could they bring gas canisters inside Parliament. They could have brought in something else,” he said.
“There is tremendous unemployment. Youngsters cannot find jobs in the country. I called for a small survey on how many hours youngsters spend on phones on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and found that they spend seven-and-a-half hours.
“For seven-and-a-half hours, the youngsters of India are sitting on cellphones during the days of the Modi government because they have not been given jobs. This is the true state of India. That is why the youngsters jumped inside the Parliament House. This feeling is in every youngster of the country,” he said.
“These 150 MPs are not just people but the voice of the people of India as every MP comes to Parliament with the votes of lakhs of people. You have not shunted out 150 MPs... you have shut the voice of 60 per cent of the people of India,” Gandhi said.
He said all the Opposition leaders are standing together and “this fight is between hate and love. The more you spread hatred, the INDIA bloc will spread love, brotherhood and unity”.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the leaders of the bloc are ready to pay whatever price required to be paid to save democracy in the country.
“They think they can silence the Opposition by doing this. We are ready to pay any price to save our democracy,” he said.
“Farmers are committing suicide, workers in factories are upset because they are not getting the right remuneration for their labour...Dalits are upset...We have to take the responsibility, we will work hard and we will defeat this power that is attacking the Constitution,” Pawar said.
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva accused the BJP of attempting to destabilise the country’s federal and secular structures. “The INDIA bloc will oust the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
S T Hasan of the Samajwadi Party (SP) said this is not the suspension of the MPs, but the suspension of the country’s democracy.
Hasnain Masoodi of the NC demanded a statement in the House as to how the security lapse occurred in Parliament. Mausam Noor of the TMC said the MPs who raised questions on the security lapse in Parliament were suspended.
“BJP is trying to murder democracy, they want a democracy-free India. We will appeal to people to make a BJP-free India,” she said.
D Raja of the CPI said Ambedkar, the prime architect of the Constitution, had made it clear that Parliament is supreme as it represents the sovereign will of the people.
“If Parliament becomes redundant, democracy will be killed. Can we allow such a fascist dictatorship to take over the country? The INDIA bloc must put up a collective fight against the BJP-RSS,” he said.
Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) said democracy is being killed across the country. “If we want to save democracy and the Constitution, we will have to remove the Modi government from power,” he said.
Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD said the person currently in power needs an Opposition-free Parliament, resistance-free streets, players-free sports and a question-free media.
“This fight is not just of the suspended MPs but of the entire country,” he said at the venue where “United We Stand. Save Democracy” was the tagline.