By suspending 150 MPs, govt muffled voices of 60 per cent people of India: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi. Pic/PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that by suspending nearly 150 opposition MPs from Parliament, the government had muffled the voices of the people of their constituencies.

While speaking at the protest of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc here at Jantar Mantar against the bulk suspension of opposition MPs, the Congress leader cornered the Centre over 'unemployment'.

He said that the two youths, carrying smoke canisters jumped into the Lok Sabha, earlier this month because they were jobless.

"A few days ago, 2-3 youths jumped inside the Parliament House, we all saw, they came inside and spread some smoke. All the BJP MPs ran away. First of all, how did those people come inside, they brought gas cylinders inside the Parliament. If they could bring that then they could have brought anything. The second question is why did they protest? The reason for this was unemployment. There is huge unemployment in the country. The youth of this country cannot get employment today," he said.

The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people--Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D--jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters, and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.

The security lapse case, which has been at the center of discussion in the political aisle of the country since then, led to the suspension of 146 MPs from the Parliament's Winter Session, which has been adjourned sine die, for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses.

The opposition lawmakers were demanding a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah about the Parliament security breach incident.

The Congress leader went on to add that as per a survey, it was revealed that youth spend 7.30 hours a day on social media apps.

Rahul said that he asked surveyors to conduct a small survey to find out how many hours per day the youth of the country spend on their phones or social media platforms.

"After the survey, I was shocked to learn that youth spend 7.30 hours a day on social media apps," Gandhi said.

Reacting to the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar's mimicry row, he said that the media didn't question about the suspension of nearly 150 MPs but highlighted that Rahul Gandhi was filming the act.

"Media says that MPs were sitting outside the Parliament and Rahul Gandhi filmed the video (of mimicry). The media did not ask the question why and how 150 MPs were suspended," he said.

"These 150 people are not just individuals, they are the voice of the people of India. Every Member of Parliament brings lakhs of votes, you have not insulted just 150 people, you have silenced 60 percent of the people of India," he added.

Meanwhile, another Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, said that the protest, under the banner 'Save Democracy', at Jantar Mantar, is send a message among people that whatever is happening is 'wrong for the future of the country'.

"In the history of democracy in the world, 146 MPs have never been suspended... People should know that the democracy is in danger. The protest is to tell the people that whatever is happening is wrong for the future of the country... There is only one solution, people should change this government and bring the INDIA Alliance into power," Tharoor told ANI.

Senior opposition leaders, including Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, and others, shared the dais to protest against the recent suspension of 146 opposition MPs.

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