Opposition Takes out March, Protests Rock Rajya Sabha Over 12 Suspended MPs

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar by Opposition parties for nearly an hour over their demand for revocation of the suspension of 12 MPs before Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned proceedings till 2 pm on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, leaders of various Opposition parties took out a protest march on Tuesday in support of their demand for revoking the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Opposition MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha participated in the march from the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk.

In Rajya Sabha , amid sloganeering by members of Opposition parties, including the Congress, with several of them trooping into the Well of the House, Naidu continued with the Zero Hour during which many MPs raised important issues.

The Chair did not permit members, who were in the Well of the House, to raise Zero Hour mentions. While most of the opposition parties were protesting, TMC member Sukhendu Sekhar Ray made his Zero Hour mention.

The Chairman made several attempts to pacify the protesting members and urged them to return to their respective seats. However, the opposition continued their sloganeering and protests, leading to adjournment of the proceedings at around 12 noon.

Referring to Aam Aadmi Party member Sanjay Singh, the Chairman said: "You are compounding your offence.

Naidu instructed officials to send Singh out from the House, saying "he is challenging the Chair", just before adjourning the proceedings.

Soon after the listed papers were tabled in the House, and Naidu called for the Zero Hour mentions, the Opposition started protesting. The Chairman made several efforts to bring order in the House.

Towards the end of the one-hour morning session (Zero Hour), the protests grew louder, and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge tried to make his point.

"If everybody goes to their seats and sits peacefully, then LoP will be called," Naidu said.

He told the protesting members that their sloganeering and trooping in the Well would do no good to the cause of the 12 suspended MPs.

"You cannot dictate to me. With all humility I want to tell you, let us maintain decency and decorum in the House and this sort of pressure is not going work on me," said a visibly upset Naidu.

As many as 12 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on November 29 for the entire Winter session of Parliament for their "unruly" conduct in the previous session in August, even as the Opposition termed the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House.

Amid the din, Naidu said he had discussed the matter with Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and also with Kharge.

Opposition Protest March to Vijay Chowk

Leaders of various opposition parties took out a protest march on Tuesday in support of their demand for revoking the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Opposition MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha participated in the march from the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise issues in Parliament, which is now merely a building and a museum.

"Wherever the Opposition is trying to raise issues, they are suppressed. The government does not allow us to raise issues. This is murder of democracy. We want to raise issues against the government, but we are not allowed to do so," he told reporters.

Gandhi also said the prime minister does not come to Parliament and "this is not the way to run a democracy".

"We have here our suspended members. This is the symbol of democracy of the country and this is the symbol of crushing of the voice of the people of India. They have been suspended for two weeks now. They are sitting outside and their voice has been crushed. We are not being allowed to discuss important issues.

"This is not the way to run Parliament. The prime minister does not come to the House. Whenever we want to raise an issue, we are stopped from doing so. This is a very unfortunate killing of democracy that is taking place," he said.

The Opposition has described the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House of Parliament.