Suspension of 6 TMC MPs proves Centre has conceded defeat, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee said. (File)
Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee Wednesday said the suspension of six party MPs in Rajya Sabha during the day for protesting against the Pegasus snooping controversy has proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi regime has conceded defeat in the case and vowed to carry on the "fight for truth".
Reacting to the action of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Mr Banerjee tweeted "YOU CAN SUSPEND US BUT YOU CANNOT SILENCE US".
M Venkaiah Naidu suspended six TMC MPs for the day for carrying placards while protesting along with other opposition MPs over the Pegasus spying issue.
The MPs had trooped into the well of the House, some holding placards, to demand a discussion on the issue of Israeli-made, military-grade Pegasus spyware allegedly being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists. The RS chairman had taken exception to the placards.
Reacting to the suspension, Mr Banerjee said on the microblogging site "The crackdown on our MPs clearly indicates that @BJP4India''s 56-inch GODFATHER has CONCEDED DEFEAT!"
Mr Banerjee's allusion to "56-inch" was apparently to the oft mentioned 56-inch chest of PM Modi by BJP to signify his stature as a leader.
"We will not budge an inch to fight for our people & to fight for the truth. Until the last drop of our blood - BRING IT ON!," tweeted Mr Banerjee, whose convoy came under attack on Monday in BJP-ruled Tripura where he had gone to meet TMC members in view of the assembly election in the north eastern state in 2023.
He also attached a photo of the RS chairman's order with the tweet.
Just as witnessed since the start of monsoon session, slogan-shouting TMC and other opposition MPs trooped into the well of the House, some holding placards, to demand a discussion on the issue of Israeli-made, military grade Pegasus spyware allegedly being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists.
M Venkaiah Naidu took exception to the placards, which had anti-government slogans and adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
He first asked members to go back to their seats and then threatened to invoke Rule 255 against those holding placards.
As the members refused to comply, he ordered that those "disobeying the chair and raising placards shall leave the House under rule 255."
He, however, did not name anyone and said Rajya Sabha Secretariat will give the list.
Later a Parliamentary Bulletin identified the six MPs suspended for the day as Dola Sen, Md. Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)