INDIA leaders vow to defeat BJP in 2024 polls

Opposition leaders on Friday called for the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, accusing the ruling party of stifling the voice of the Opposition.

At a protest held at the Jantar Mantar here against the suspension of 146 MPs from both Houses of Parliament during the Winter session, leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc vowed to protect democracy.

Referring to the suspension of MPs, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said the government is trying to silence the Opposition.

"They think they can silence the Opposition by doing this. We are ready to pay any price to save our democracy," he said.

"Farmers are committing suicide, workers in factories are upset because they are not getting the right remuneration for their labour...Dalits are upset...We have to take responsibility, we will work hard and we will defeat this power that is attacking the Constitution," Pawar said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the government is answerable to Parliament.

"Our Constitution gives sovereignty to the people of India, which is implemented through our representatives. Government is answerable to Parliament and MPs are answerable to the people. This is the summary of our democracy," he said.

Yechuri said that while the BJP government is talking about amrit kaal, the amrit or nectar has fallen into the wrong hands as it happened in the story of amrit manthan in the Vishnu Purana.

"They are talking about amrit kaal...remember how amrit was found. Vishnu Purana says amrit came out of the churning of the ocean, but it first fell into the wrong hands. Today the amrit is in the wrong hands, we have to get it back and that is our pledge," he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mausam Noor called for making a "BJP-free India".

"BJP is trying to murder democracy, they want a democracy-free India. We will appeal to people to make a BJP-free India," she said.

Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja said the government is trying to make Parliament redundant.

"If you eliminate opposition by hook or by crook, you are making Parliament redundant. If Parliament becomes redundant, democracy dies, democracy is killed. This is what Mr (Narendra) Modi and his government are doing. This is what we call fascist dictatorship," he said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha called it a fight to save democracy.

"This is not just the fight of suspended MPs. When the PM goes to foreign countries, he says he comes from the mother of democracy. How are you going to say it now, after suspending 146 MPs," he said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninit leader Dipankar Bhattacharya accused the BJP of insulting Parliament.

"They want Parliament to be opposition free, the roads to be protest free, and want to leave no scope for disagreement.... They are trying to end democracy and bring in a permanent autocracy," he said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Shahid Siddiqui called it the second struggle for independence.

"This is the second freedom struggle. At that time we had Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Chaudhary Charan Singh.... Today we don't have them, so every citizen of India will have to come together," he said.

ST Hasan of the Samajwadi Party accused the government of "bulldozing" Parliament, while Tiruchi Siva of the DMK expressed confidence that next year, a prime minister of the INDIA bloc will unfurl the tricolour at the Red Fort.

National Conference leader Hasnain Masoodi, meanwhile, said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be forgotten, who are without a democratically elected government for almost 10 years now.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, JMM's Mahua Maji, and Revolutionary Socialist Party's NK Premachandran were also present at the protest, along with several other MPs who had been suspended.