Accusing the ruling party of suppressing the voice of the opposition, the leaders of the opposition parties have invited the people to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During the winter session, the leaders of the alliance of opposition parties ‘India’ took a pledge to protect democracy in the protest held at Jantar Mantar against the suspension of 146 members of Parliament from both houses of Parliament.
Addressing the protest, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that three criminal laws were passed without opposition. Indirectly attacking Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for raising the issue of caste in Parliament, he said, “If a person is sitting on a high constitutional position and speaks like that, you can think about the condition of Dalits.” He said that the ‘India’ alliance was formed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have vowed to destroy democracy and the constitution. He said that freedom was achieved with the sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar and people but not a single leader of them (BJP) made sacrifice. Criticizing the government for passing three criminal bills, he said, “You got all the bills passed by suspending the parliamentarians. There are three criminal bills which will have a huge impact on the people.” By doing this we have to fight together because Modi is trying to scare our workers. Wherever elections are held, they intimidate with CBI, ED and IT. The Congress will neither be afraid nor bow down to such tricks. He said that the opposition is like a seed and it will continue to flourish which together will save democracy. He said that Modi has become so arrogant that he is saying that BJP will win 400 seats, but it does not have the power in many states. He said that those who have given power to Modi know how to remove him from power. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, while participating in the ‘Save Democracy’ demonstration, accused the government that the youth had compromised the security of the Lok Sabha due to unemployment. In his address, he said, “When two youths jumped from the visitor’s gallery and smoked in the Lok Sabha, all the MPs of the BJP, who call themselves patriots, ran away. . You could not see on TV, but we have seen everything.” He said that a statement was sought from Home Minister Amit Shah as to how the security of Parliament was compromised, but the BJP allowed only about 150 MPs in both houses. Suspended from Terming the MPs as the voice of the people of the country, Rahul said, “The government has suppressed the voice of 60 percent of the people of the country and do you understand that this will make people afraid. But it will not happen and he will show the right path to BJP in the general elections.” He said that it is a war between love and hate. “The more hate you spread, the more love will be spread by the leaders of India Block.” He surrounded the media and said that he also tries to divert attention from the issues. He gave an example of this with the case of copying Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, which is now being protested by the BJP. Referring to the suspension of MPs, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said the government is trying to silence the opposition. The BJP thinks that by doing this it will silence the opposition. We are ready to pay any price to save democracy. Pawar said that farmers are committing suicide and workers in factories are upset because they are not getting the right price for their hard work. Dalits are also upset. We all have to take the responsibility to work hard to defeat the forces attacking the Constitution. CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the government is accountable to Parliament. He said that the constitution gives people the right to autonomy which is implemented through representatives. This is why the government is accountable to the parliament and the parliamentarians are accountable to the people. This is the essence of our democracy. He said that the BJP government talks about ‘Amrit Kaal’ but the ‘Amrit’ has gone into the wrong hands like what happened during the ‘Amrit Manthan’ according to Vishnu Puran. Trinamool Congress MP Mosam Noor called for a ‘BJP-free India’. He said, “BJP is trying to kill democracy and they want a democracy free India.” We appeal to the people to create a BJP-free India.” CPI General Secretary D Raja said that the government is trying to reduce the importance of Parliament. He said, “If you eliminate the opposition by conspiracy, you are reducing the importance of Parliament. If Parliament becomes unnecessary, democracy will be killed. This is what Mr. Modi and his government are doing. This is what we call fascist dictatorship.” Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha termed the protest as a war to save democracy. This is not just a fight for the suspension of MPs. When the Prime Minister goes to foreign countries, he says that he has come from a country that is the birthplace of democracy. After suspending 146 members from the Parliament, now with what mouth you will say this. CPI (ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya accused the BJP of insulting the Parliament. He said, “That opposition party