BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, citing media reports, on Thursday alleged that some suspended MPs protesting in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament ate ‘tandoori chicken’, questioning if this was a protest or a “farce and a picnic”.
“As per media reports, some suspended MPs protesting in front of Gandhi statue in Parliament consumed tandoori chicken. Everyone knows Gandhi ji had staunch views on the slaughter of animals. Many people are asking if this was a protest or a farce and a picnic,” news agency quoted Poonawalla as saying.
Denying the allegation, TMC MP Sushmita Dev, one of the suspended MPs, said, “It’s a lie. Leaders and ministers of the government have become disreputed due to inflation. They don’t have an answer, hence this propaganda. People and ministers of the RSS eat everything behind closed doors. So, don’t make a comment on our food.”
“They can’t tolerate that the food is being brought not from our home but by other MPs. They are scared of this solidarity. We know what the BJP-RSS says outside and eats in private,” Dev added.
Braving mosquitoes and the heat, five suspended MPs spent the night near the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex.
“50 hour non-stop dharna by Opposition MPs. 21 hours done. 29 hours to go. “Revoke suspension of 24 MPs. Discuss,” tweeted TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.
On Thursday, three more MPS, two from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and one Independent, were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of this week on charges of disrupting the proceedings of the House. With this move, the total number of MPs suspended from the Rajya Sabha since Tuesday jumped to 23.
Those suspended from the House are AAP MP Sushil Kumar Gupta and Sandeep Kumar Pathak as well as independent MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan.
Deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, who announced their suspension, said they entered the well of the House, shouted slogans and displayed placards by disrupting the proceedings in utter disregard to the House and the authority of the Chair.
The Chair announced their suspension “from the service of the Council for the remainder of the current week under rule 256.”
On Wednesday, AAP MP Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of this week for “throwing paper on the Chair” during proceedings of the House on Tuesday.
TMC’s Dola Sen and Santanu Sen were present at the site till post midnight.