INDIA bloc hits streets on breach, suspensions

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is not letting leaders speak when women and Dalits are assaulted, farmers are killed or Constitution is violated, Congress chief MallikarjunKharge said on Friday as the Opposition hit the streets and held protests across the country against a record number of members being suspended from Parliament in the winter session. At an event in Delhi by the

28-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), Kharge criticised the passage of key bills in Houses, hailed Opportunity, and said everyone had the right to speak in a democracy and no one could snatch away that freedom. Similar events were held

across states, led by different parties. In Lucknow, the Samajwadi Party (SP) led the protests while in Patna, the Grand Alliance took out a march. Protests were held in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar as well. In Bengaluru, Ranchi and Jaipur, the Congress-led the agitation. “When women or Dalits are

assaulted, farmers are killed, and the Constitution is violated, we give notices in Parliament but are not even permitted to read them. What should I say? Should I say the BJP and its government would not allow a Dalit to speak?” the Congress chief said at Jantar Mantar. “In a democracy, everyone has

a right to speak. You cannot snatch away that freedom. We got that freedom thanks to Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and BR Ambedkar... These people gave us freedom. Even a mouse from your [BJP] house did not join the freedom struggle," he said.

"You threw away all Opposition MPs [Members of Parliament] and passed all bills unopposed," he added.

Kharge's comments came a day after the most acrimonious session in recent memory marked by the expulsion of a member in the Lok Sabha, the shocking breach of security in the Lower House that saw two men vaulting onto the floor and spray coloured smoke, and the suspension of 146 Opposition members amid uproar over the incursion closed. The strong remarks underlined deepening fault lines between the government and the Opposition and a renewed effort by the INDIA bloc to galvanise support after the Congress's recent losses in heartland assembly polls.