Congress president and Rajya Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday wrote to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on the Winter Session that witnessed unprecedented events including the security breach, suspension of over 150 MPs, passage of crucial bills without the presence of the opposition MPs. “the government will have its way but the Opposition must, you will readily agree, have its say,” Kharge wrote at the end of a tumultuous winter session of Parliament.

“The Opposition parties were prepared to engage in a meaningful discussion on the matter. Regrettably, these notices were neither admitted, nor was I, as the Leader of the Opposition, or any other Member of the Opposition parties permitted to speak on the floor of the House even for a minute or two,” Kharge wrote referring to the notices submitted in Parliament for discussion.

“It is crucial to emphasize that the Opposition parties had a clear demand for the Minister of Home Affairs to apprise the House on the critical issue of breach of Parliamentary security and the role of a ruling party MP in facilitating the entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha gallery on December 13th. This matter is of grave concern to Parliament, Parliamentarians and is also a significant national security issue. However, the demand was unequivocally ignored. Furthermore, the suspension of a considerable number of opposition MPs occurred in multiple instances, blatantly violating the Rules and Procedure,” Kharge wrote.

Witnessing the suspension of MPs on such a large scale was painful, agonising, frustrating and disheartening, the Congress president said as he sought a date and time from Dhankhar to address these concerns.

The Opposition INDIA bloc staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against the suspension of the MPs. The protest was organised under the banner of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance and was attended by the DMK, NCP, SP, NC, TMC, JMM, RJD and other members of the coalition. “You threw out the opposition MPs from Parliament and passed all the laws without any opposition. This is not good for democracy,” Kharge said addressing the gathering.

Another major flashpoint between the BJP and the opposition was Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee’s mimicry of Jagdeep Dhankhar outside Parliament. While the BJP leaders and Dhankhar himself condemned the insult, the opposition termed it as a pretext to divert attention from the mass suspension of the MPs.