TMC MPs walk out of Rajya Sabha in protest
On Thursday, the Opposition called off their protest in Parliament over the suspension of 12 lawmakers as a respect to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat and 12 others who died in a crash on Wednesday. But they were in anger for not being allowed to pay tribute to the deceased.
After union defence minister Rajnath Singh’s statement in the Upper House, The Opposition leaders, Mallikarjun Kharge, requested that all floor leaders should be given a few minutes to speak.
The request from the Opposition leaders to pay tribute to the deceased was, however, cancelled by deputy chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh. He said the defence minister has spoken to the deceased families and condolences have been offered collectively.
Whereas, Opposition leaders pressed the chair to allow them to speak their point, members of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) walked out of the House in protest.
Outside the House, TMC lawmaker Sushmita Dev said, “The suspended MPs observed a minute’s silence as the nation is in mourning, and today is not the day to protest. In Parliament, there was no disruption. All that we wanted was just that every party should be given a chance to consolidate the deaths and express solidarity, so that the right message goes out as a united government. But we were bulldozed and we chose to walk out in protest against yet another move to suppress us.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha said that the Opposition leaders should have been given a chance to pay tribute to the 13 deceased, which is the basic right of the opposition too.
Manoj Jha further said, “I’m told that in such national tragedies, every floor leader makes a point. An obituary binds the House and it should have been allowed. But if the obituary is seen from a partisan perspective, then things are worse.”
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