New Delhi: In a dramatic sequence of events, Congress MPs were seen protesting at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament over the suspension of 25 party MPs for five days by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The protest led by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi was attended by MPs of both the Houses including former prime minister Manmohan Singh.
The Congress is all out attacking the Narendra Modi government and is adamant on its demand for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The suspension of Congress MPs from the Lok Sabha has added only more fuel to the fire giving a clear signal that the rest of the Monsoon session will also be washed out.
An aggressive Rahul has also dared the government to suspend all the 44 MPs but they will continue to protest against the government. "PM Modi does 'Mann Ki Baat'. I hope he hears people's 'Mann Ki Baat' too. We will take on the government everywhere across the country. Sushma Swaraj has broken the law. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is directly involved financially with Lalit Modi," said Rahul.
The protest by the Congress also got the support from nine other parties including, Janata Dal United, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Left parties.
After hitting out at the Prime Minister on Monday at the Congress Parliamentary Party meet on Monday, Sonia once again took the charge and in very strong words called the suspension party MPs 'murder of democracy'. "The way Congress MPs were suspended is anti-democratic," said Sonia.
The scenes were no different from 14th and 15th Parliament session wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party were up in arms against the then Manmohan Singh government resulting in the complete washout of the sessions.
Singh put the onus of the functioning of Parliament on the government. "Suspension of 25 Congress MPs is not a way of resolving an issue. It is the responsibility of the government to respond to the concerns being raised by us for so long now. We are fully justified in demanding the resignation of the three ministers," said Singh.
Meanwhile, leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge called the suspension of MPs pre-planned. "The suspension was pre-planned. The list was already prepared."
The Speaker hit back saying, "The Speaker has not made the rules, it is the rule made by all members. I will allow members to raise their issues after the question hour."
It is very unlikely that the remaining Congress MPs will attend the session this week and bak the government in passing the key Bills including GST Bill, Whistleblowers Protection Bill and Real Estate Bill.
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