In an escalation of the protests on the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha members , the Opposition parties will march to Vijay Chowk and also hold a joint rally where national heads of leaders will participate later in the week.
Monday was the 13th day of the protest. With the government remaining adamant on its position, stating that the suspension would be revoked only if an apology is made on the floor of the House, Opposition leaders at the morning meeting decided that there was an urgent need to scale up the protest.
The Trinamool Congress, which has remained aloof from any joint Opposition efforts led by the Congress, decided to make an exception and will be participating in the Vijay Chowk march.
In the Rajya Sabha, the disruption continued on Monday. The first half of the proceedings was washed out.
Deputy Leader of the Congress Anand Sharma urged the Government to heed the advice of Chairman Venkaiah Naidu that the two sides should hold discussion and find a solution to the issue. There was no response from the Government, following which the Congress staged a walkout.
‘Refusing request’
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition was “repeatedly requesting” the Government to find a solution. “The Government cannot dictate what should [we] do, what should [we] not do? They are repeatedly refusing to concede our request and they are putting the blame on us. So it’s not good. Therefore, I can say that the Government is adamant and... they are provoking us to disrupt the House. So, in protest of that, we will walkout,” he stated. Mr. Naidu then adjourned the House till noon.
When it met at noon, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said “allegations and wrong statements” were made by Mr. Kharge.
“They should not think that we have not responded. We constantly tried speaking to the Leader of Opposition and members but they are making statements that they will not apologise as they have not done anything wrong.”
