Voters gave marching orders twice: Joshi taunts Oppn over Rajya Sabha disruptions

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday asked the opposition parties, 12 members of which have been suspended for causing disruption to Rajya Sabha proceedings in the last session, to express regret and join the House, saying the government wants their constructive criticism and suggestions to be part of the debates.

With leaders of various opposition parties taking out a protest march in support of their demand for revoking the suspension of the 12 MPs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took a swipe at them, saying the voters of the country have given them "marching orders" twice -- a reference to their back-to-back defeats in two Lok Sabha elections -- and will reduce their presence further.

Leaders of various opposition parties took out a protest march on Tuesday in support of their demand for revoking the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Opposition MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha participated in the march from the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise issues in Parliament, which is now merely a building and a museum.

"Wherever the Opposition is trying to raise issues, they are suppressed. The government does not allow us to raise issues. This is murder of democracy. We want to raise issues against the government, but we are not allowed to do so," he told reporters.

Gandhi also said the prime minister does not come to Parliament and "this is not the way to run a democracy".

"We have here our suspended members. This is the symbol of democracy of the country and this is the symbol of crushing of the voice of the people of India. They have been suspended for two weeks now. They are sitting outside and their voice has been crushed. We are not being allowed to discuss important issues.

"This is not the way to run Parliament. The prime minister does not come to the House. Whenever we want to raise an issue, we are stopped from doing so. This is a very unfortunate killing of democracy that is taking place," he said.

Noting that the opposition parties have participated in the Rajya Sabha proceedings at times and disrupted it at other times, he wondered what was their strategy.

Joshi criticised the Opposition members for questioning Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu for running the Zero Hour amid their protests.

A total of 50 Opposition members, including those from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, had given notices and some of them had even spoken during the Zero Hour, he said.

The minister added that the government has sought adjournments of the House at times so that the Opposition members can take part in the discussions over bills and other issues.

"I call upon the Congress members, the other Opposition members to express regret and come to the House," he said.

The 12 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on November 29 for the entire Winter session of Parliament for their "unruly" conduct in the previous session in August.

The Opposition has described the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House of Parliament.