Photos | Black Clothes, Papers Hurled in Parl: Rahul's Ouster Unites Opposition

Congress MP Sonia Gandhi at Parliament House during the Budget Session, in New Delhi, Monday, March 27, 2023

(Photo: PTI)

The political unrest over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha entered the fourth day on Monday, 27 March, with a war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a disrupted Parliament.

While the Lok Sabha was disrupted after several MPs hurled papers at the Chair, Opposition MPs from various parties wore black to the Parliament to protest Gandhi's disqualification and reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the alleged financial irregularities by business tycoon Gautam Adani.

(Photo: Congress)

A separate meeting of Congress MPs was also conducted by Sonia Gandhi.

The Lok Sabha, however, was adjourned within minutes by Speaker Om Birla after several Congress MPs including Congress parliamentarians T N Prathapan Hibi Eden and Ramya Haridas protested in the well of the House and hurled torn papers at the Speaker's chair. The House was adjourned till 4 pm after some MPs also waived black flags.

Opposition MPs, along with Sonia Gandhi, then raised slogans demanding a JPC on the Adani issue and marched to Vijay Chowk.

DMK MP Kanimozhi wearing a black saree to the Parliament. Along with the Congress, MPs from across parties including the NCP, DMK, BRS, and the Left parties also wore black to the Parliament, while Trinamool Congress MPs covered their mouths with black bands.

The TMC's support to the Congress comes as a surprise in the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee and the party recently having decided to distance themselves from Gandhi and the Congress ahead of the 2024 elections.

"By wearing black we wanted to highlight how PM Modi is destroying the democracy. They have weakened autonomous bodies, orchestrated downfall of democratically elected state governments, and have misused agencies to make their opponents fall in line," Kharge said.

Congress MLAs wearing black shirts also protested against disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha at Tamil Nadu Assembly during the Budget Session, in Chennai.

Mahagathbandhan legislators wearing black ribbons staged a protest against the Central Government during the Budget Session of Bihar Assembly, in Patna.

Congress MLAs in Odisha, too carried out marches wearing black.

Several Congress leaders continued attacks on the Modi government and the Adani issue, asking why PM Modi was not agreeing to the formation of a JPC in the matter.

Thanking all Opposition parties who came out in Gandhi's support, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said: "The way Rahul Gandhi was disqualified over a defamation case has worried all the parties."

Congress MP Manish Tewari alo called Gandhi's disqualification "undemocratic and unjust."

Reacting to the Opposition's protests, Union Minister Hardeep Puri, as quoted by news agency ANI said: "You are getting an ass to run a horse's race... They really deserve to do some serious introspection."

Puri further said that the matter of court was being politicised and "Mahabharat and Savarkar are being invoked."

Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that Rahul Gandhi's comment of 'all Modis are thieves' had insulted the OBCs, but he refused to apologise.

"Has the Congress stopped respecting the courts too? He refused to apologise when the court asked him to but he also insulted the court's verdict," Thakur said.