Twenty suspended Rajya Sabha members Wednesday started a 50-hour relay protest inside the Parliament complex against the order passed by the Parliamentary authorities. Opposition leaders and some of the suspended MPs like CPI's Santosh Kumar, AAP's Sanjay Singh spent the night beside the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex.
The leaders have held a 50-hour long protest against their suspension and demand discussion on price rise in the lower and upper houses.
Opposition parties are taking turns to arrange regional cuisine for the protesting MPs. From curd rice and idli-sambhar to tandoori chicken, 'gajar ka halwa' and fruits, the opp parties are taking turns.
"50 hour non-stop dharna by Opposition MPs. 21 hours done. 29 hours to go. Revoke suspension of 24 MPs. Discuss," tweeted TMC Rajya Sabha MP Dwrek O'Brien.
The 20 MPs, suspended over Monday and Tuesday, include seven from the TMC, six from the DMK, three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one each from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Rajya Sabha MPs are holding the protest near the Gandhi statue and will stay at the site through night, Trinamool Congress' Dola Sen, who is one of the suspended members, said earlier yesterday.
On Wednesday, idli-sambhar breakfast was organised by DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, lunch with curd rice was arranged by the DMK. Dinner was roti, daal, paneer and chicken tandoori courtesy the TMC.
Today, the DMK was in charge of breakfast, the TRS of lunch and the AAP will arrange dinner.
While the Congress and other Opposition parties were protesting at different venues in the morning, by the evening, it seemed they had come together on the issue of price rise.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh visited the site of the protests and said his party will be part of the day-night dharna organised by the other Opposition parties.
With the suspension of the MPs in RS concluding on Friday, a discussion on price rise will be taken up after that.
According to PTI, Opposition also said a detailed plan of action has been drawn out for the dharna and a roster of duties created which is being circulated on a dedicated WhatsApp group.
(with agency inputs)
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
