New Delhi: As the Opposition seats in both houses of parliament are close to empty, the leaders arranged a protest march to Vijay Chowk here on Thursday morning.
The lawmakers took out the march carrying a huge 'Save Democracy' banner and placards with messages like 'Opposition MPs Suspended' 'Parliament Caged' and 'Democracy Expelled' written on them.
The leaders will conduct another demonstration on Friday at Jantar Mantar, the notable protest site of the capital city, said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
A total of 143 opposition MPs have been suspended so far for demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the recent Lok Sabha security breach.
"We wanted to raise the Parliament security breach issue as to why it happened and who is responsible," said Kharge to the reporters at Vijay Chowk. "Parliament is a big Panchayat. If one will not speak in Parliament where would one speak?" he asked.
The Congress president, flanked by MPs and leaders of INDIA bloc parties, alleged that it was a matter of breach of privilege of the House that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken outside Parliament while it was in session and did not apprise the House over the Lok Sabha security breach incident.
"We wanted to raise the Parliament security breach issue as to why it happened and who is responsible," Kharge said. "He (Narendra Modi) talks in Varanasi, Ahmedabad, on TV but not in Parliament. They have disrespected the House. He should come and speak in the House first, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Instead of that, he was speaking outside. This is condemnable and it was a violation of privilege (of House)," Kharge added.
Opposition MPs are repeatedly requesting Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to allow the lawmakers to speak on the security breach issue, Kharge said, alleging that the ruling party members were disturbing proceedings.
This shows that the BJP does not have faith in democracy and does not want discussion and debate, the Congress chief alleged. He urged the government to "behave democratically".
INDIA bloc leaders will protest at Jantar Mantar Friday against the suspension of MPs and nationwide protests will also be held in all district headquarters against the government's "immoral and illegal" behaviour of this government, the Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha said.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, National Conference's Hasnain Masoodi, JMM's Mahua Maji, Samajwadi Party's ST Hasan, flanked Kharge as he made his remarks at Vijay Chowk.
Two more opposition members in Lok Sabha were suspended on Wednesday for displaying placards, taking the total number of members of the lower House against whom such action has been taken to 97. With these fresh suspensions, the total number of members suspended from the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha since December 14 has gone up to 143.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack last Wednesday, December 13, two men -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour. They released coloured smoke and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.
Two others -- Neelam and Amol Shinde -- were detained outside the Parliament complex for staging a protest. The four were arrested and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They will be produced before a court as their seven days of police custody ends on Thursday. The Special Cell is likely to seek their further custody.
Meanwhile, four more people including Lalit Jha, Saikrishna Jagali, and Mahesh Kumawat were arrested later in connection with the case and they have also been interrogated, police said.
A committee under the chairmanship of CRPF Director General Anish Dayal Singh is looking into the overall security issues of the Parliament complex and will make recommendations to the Union Home Ministry for improvement.
(With PTI inputs)
