Stepping up the protest against the suspension of the 12 Rajya Sabha MPs , all Opposition MPs have decided to boycott the session on Wednesday and join their suspended colleagues at the Gandhi statue outside Parliament. Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha too will join them on another day.
According to sources, the Congress made several attempts reaching out to other Opposition leaders to wrap up the protest. The party argued that it was essential to run the House to ask questions to the Government and hold them accountable.
Sources said that senior Congress leaders met the suspended MPs proposing that Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge could express regret on behalf of all those suspended to resolve the issue. But this offer was uniformly rejected.
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At a meeting, the majority of the Opposition leaders said that the protests cannot be suspended selectively for any particular debates or legislative business.
The Rajya Sabha failed to function on Tuesday . Within five minutes after the House was convened, it was adjourned to 2 p.m. It was adjourned for an hour at 2 p.m. because protests erupted again.
When the House met at 3 p.m., the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2020 was moved but the debate could not carry on. Nagaland MP K.G. Kenye tried to raise the issue of Army killings in the State, but Deputy Chairman Harivansh disallowed him and the House was adjourned soon after.
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Addressing a press conference, Mr. Kharge said that the protest will continue till the suspension is revoked. “We wanted to raise several issues, like inflation and the Nagaland killings. But 12 of our colleagues remain suspended and are not able to participate in the debate,” he said.
Mr. Kharge said the Government ignored any demand and kept adjourning the session multiple times. “This clearly shows that the Government is not willing to run the House,” he said.