BJP members marched with placards towards the Opposition MPs
The BJP mounted counter-protests outside parliament today where 12 suspended members of the Rajya Sabha were on a sit-in demonstration against the action taken against them.
There were some tense moments as BJP members, with placards, marched towards the Opposition MPs near the Gandhi statue inside the premises of parliament to condemn their "undemocratic actions" inside the House.
"We are here to highlight the duplicity of the Opposition parties," BJP member GVL Narsimha Rao said.
The issue also figured in both Houses of parliament when opposition leaders complained about "hooting" by BJP members to the presiding officers.
In Rajya Sabha, RJD MP Manoj Jha said that BJP members "gate-crashed" the site in parliament complex where the 12 suspended members were staging a demonstration.
In Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that BJP members hooted the opposition members near the Gandhi statue.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal refuted Mr Chowdhury's claims and asserted that BJP members, too, have the right to protest at the Gandhi statue.
"BJP members were protesting against the opposition members who had assaulted security officials inside parliament," he said.
BJP members also carried out a march from the Gandhi statue to the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar within parliament premises raising slogans to save democracy.
The 12 opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Monday for the entire Winter Session for their "unruly" conduct in the Monsoon Session in August. The Opposition has termed the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House.
The suspended MPs include six from the Congress, two each from the Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from the CPI and CPI(M). They have been holding day-long protests in front of the Gandhi statue inside the parliament complex and have decided to continue to do so every day until their suspension is revoked.