NEW DELHI: The members of the united opposition, INDIA, continued their relay protest on Tuesday demanding the revocation of suspension of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh from Rajya Sabha. Singh, along with other opposition MPs, has been sitting in protest before the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex after his suspension on Monday.
The protesting MPs, along with Sanjay Singh, could be seen holding ‘Save Manipur’ placards, with the Opposition insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make a statement on Manipur before any discussion on the issue.
Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev said the Opposition MPs have been taking turns to sit on the dharna.
Speaking to this newspaper, Dev said that the INDIA allies will continue the sit-in protest until the suspension is revoked.
“We have made a roster for two-hour turns. We can’t miss the proceedings of the House also. Still, all the members ensure that at least 10 members will be present throughout the day and night,” said Dev.
Supriya Sule of NCP, A Raja of DMK, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Manoj Jha of RJD, NK Premachandran of RSP, Gaurav Gogoi (Congress), Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan of JDU, and Elamaram Kareem (CPM) and A M Ariff (CPM) were among the leaders who sat in the protest.
Earlier on Tuesday, the alliance party leaders met at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber and decided to continue the protest till Singh’s suspension is revoked.
Singh was suspended from the Upper House for the rest of the monsoon session by chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar for repeatedly ‘violating’ the directives of the chair, while protesting on the Manipur issue. Now the MP cannot attend the rest of the session.
“We will continue the protest till the suspension is revoked. We are sitting on a rotational basis. At Kharge’s meeting too, we decided to continue the protest as the government is not making any effort to end the impasse,” said Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem.
The decision to hold a day-and-night sit-in protest was taken immediately after Singh’s suspension, said Kareem. “We have met the Rajya Sabha chairman and requested him to revoke the suspension. Even Kharge spoke to the chairman about it. But, no action was taken. The decision to hold a relay protest was taken by leaders of all parties,” said Kareem.
The opposition’s goal is to keep focus on the Manipur issue, said another leader.
“All Sanjay Singh was asking was a statement from the PM. We demand to revoke his suspension. It is time for the PM to speak on the Manipur issue as it’s a constitutional crisis,” said the leader.
Both Houses of Parliament have not been functioning over the Manipur issue.