Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday ruled out an apology by the 12 Opposition MPs who have been suspended from Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the Winter Session. The Rajya Sabha on Monday suspended 12 MPs for the entire Winter Session of Parliament for creating ruckus in the House during the Monsoon Session on August 11.
“Apology for what? Raising the people’s issues in Parliament? Never!” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Earlier today, the Congress-led opposition on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to protest the suspension of 12 Opposition members of the Upper House with leaders saying they will continue to raise their voices on the matter.
After the walkout, opposition MPs demonstrated in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside Parliament complex, raising slogans against the government and its "dictatorial attitude".
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said the move was against the rules and practices of the House. Accusing the government of adopting the path of confrontation with the opposition, he said talk of cooperation in the smooth running of the House 'is a sham'.
"We and other opposition leaders opposed the suspension of MPs in Rajya Sabha and under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and TR Baalu staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha. We have decided to oppose the way democracy has been tattered in Rajya Sabha by suspending 12 MPs. We have decided to oppose such a dictatorial attitude of the government," he said after the walkout.
This government, he added, is not giving opposition MPs the opportunity to speak inside the House.
In the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, said that the incident happened in the last Monsoon session, "so, how can you take this decision now".
'Chairman empowered to take action'
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said that the bitter experience of the last Monsoon Session still continues to haunt most of us. "I was expecting and waiting for the leading lights of the House to take lead in expressing outrage over what happened in the last session," he said. "The Chairman of the Rajya is empowered to take action and also the House can take action," he said and rejected the request for the revocation of suspension of 12 MPs.
The 12 MPs suspended for the remaining part of the Winter Session are from the Congress (6), two each from the TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from the CPM and the CPI. They are -- Syed Naseer Hussain, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora and Rajmani Patel of the Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of the CPI-M, Binoy Viswam of the CPI, Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of the Trinamool.
READ MORE: Opposition MPs walk out of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha to protest suspension of 12 MPs
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