BJP's counter protest in Parliament triggers face-off with Opposition

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday mounted counter-protests outside Parliament where 12 suspended opposition members of Rajya Sabha were on a sit-in demonstration against the action on them.

There were some tense moments as BJP members, carrying placards, marched towards the opposition members near the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises to condemn their 'undemocratic actions' inside the House.

"We are here to highlight the duplicity of the opposition parties," BJP member G V L 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, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said BJP members 'gatecrashed' the site in Parliament complex where the 12 suspended members were staging a demonstration.

In Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed the BJP members hooted the opposition members near the Gandhi statue.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said refuted Chowdhury's claims and asserted that BJP members also 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 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 of Parliament for their 'unruly' conduct in the previous 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 the Shiv Sena, and one each from the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

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 till their suspension is revoked.