TWELVE suspended Rajya Sabha MPs of the Opposition parties holding day-long protests in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex will continue to do so every day till their suspension is revoked. The leaders termed the suspension order “autocratic” and asserted that they will not apologise for “raising people’s issues”. “Our protest will go on until this illegal suspension is revoked. Our MPs have been protesting in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. “Every day from 10 am to 11 am the Opposition MPs are protesting and will continue to do so. The suspended MPs are also sitting in protest and will do so every day from 10 am to 5 pm in front of the Gandhi statue,” Ripun Bora, one of the suspended MPs, told PTI. Describing the suspension order as “autocratic”, he said, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu should explain why they have been suspended as they were raising farmers’ and peoples’ issues such as price rise and Pegasus snooping allegations.

 

“Is that an offence? Should we apologise for it?” he asked rhetorically. Another suspended MP Syed Naseer Hussain echoed similar views and asked how can the MPs be asked to apologise for raising people’s issues such as farm laws agitation, probe into the Pegasus matter, price rise and fuel cost hikes. “We will continue our protest. We may also escalate it to other forms of protest if the suspension is not revoked,” he told PTI. As many as 12 opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Monday for the entire Winter Session of Parliament for their “unruly” conduct in the previous session in August,. Six from the Congress, two each from the Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from the CPI and CPI(M) have been suspended.