Congress's Black Day protest against suspension of 25 MPs; murder of democracy, says Sonia Gandhi

About 50 Congress leaders protested outside Parliament, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders who raised slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government's "high-handedness".

Listen to Story

Advertisement
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi leads Congress's Black Band protest.(Photo: Pankaj Nangia|Mail Today)

A day after 25 of 44 Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha, party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday led her leaders to the Parliament complex with a black band around their arms. Addressing reporters after the protest, Sonia called their suspension murder of democracy. On Monday, she had called Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's move a Black Day.

About 50 Congress leaders protested outside Parliament, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders who raised slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government's "high-handedness". The Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Samajwadi Party also participated in the Congress protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament.

advertisement

"The way they suspended our leaders indicates democracy is being murdered in the country," Sonia told reporters. "What has been done to our MPs is also being to academic institutions, the Internet and India's farmers," Rahul said, adding that there is enough evidence against the BJP ministers whose resignation has been demanded by the Congress. "Let them throw us out of Parliament. We will take the fight to the nation," he added.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, flanked by his chief Sonia, and Congress Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, also attacked the Modi government and said their demand for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two Chief Ministers - Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan - for their alleged involvement in Lalitgate and Vyapam scams. "The suspension is no way to resolve the issues," Singh said.

Nine opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress, have announced a boycott of Parliament in solidarity with the unprecedented suspension of Congress MPs for "wilfully obstructing the business of the House". The Congress called the suspension an example of the Gujarat model, referring to the 14-year-rule of Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Also read: 25 of 44 Congress MPs suspended from Lok Sabha, Sonia calls it a Black Day

With a week more to go for the Monsoon Session, an aggressive Congress and a belligerent BJP have resulted in a virtual washout of Parliament proceedings for the last ten days. On Monday, the showdown in Parliament took an ugly turn as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 of the 44 Congress members for causing disruptions, forcing the opposition to unite behind a furious Congress.

Even as Mahajan justified her decision, the Trinamool Congress announced it would boycott the Lok Sabha for five days. The AAP followed suit but made it clear that it was doing so to denounce Mahajan's decision and not in support of the Congress.

Live: Congress protests against suspension of MPs in Parliament premises

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan later admitted the suspension was a harsh step. "I had called an all party meeting, but none of the all-party meetings were forthcoming in reaching a consensus. That is why I had to take this harsh step," she said.

Earlier on Monday, Sonia Gandhi had come out strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The 'Mann ki Baat' man appears to retreat into a 'Maun Vrat' whenever there is a scandal involving his colleagues," Gandhi tweeted in one of her strongest attacks on Modi. "We are not being aggressive just to match BJP's aggression of the past, we are forced to take our position because of BJP's present brazen attitude," she said.