‘Adjusting with whatever we have’: CPI MP on 50-hour relay protest by Oppn

P Santhosh Kumar is among 24 first-time members of Parliament to be suspended from both Houses for “unruly behavior”. Kumar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, was among the first lot of parliamentarians who were suspended for a week on July 26 during the ongoing monsoon session.

Pledged as an MP on April 4, Kumar was in Parliament on Day 11 of the session when he was suspended along with 18 other MPs from various opposition parties. Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh too was suspended on July 27.

Opposition MPs have been continuously protesting since the beginning of the session over inflation and hike in the goods and services tax (GST) rates. However, sit-ins at night are unusual, even so when permission to set up a tent at the site was denied given the weather.

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For Kumar, protesting at night is no different than dharnas he participated in his 30-year-old political career. “I have staged several dharnas and protest marches. Therefore, spending the night here in protest is no different except for the change in the location,” the CPI leader said.

Suspended MPs on Wednesday staged a 50-hour-long relay protest inside the Parliament complex near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Seven MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), six from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one each from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They were joined by four Congress MPs who were suspended on July 25 from Lok Sabha for the rest of the monsoon session.

“As a show of solidarity with RS MPs protesting against the suspension Loksabha suspended MPs joined and sat with for 100 minutes,” Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who is among the four Lok Sabha parliamentarians suspended, said on Twitter.

The Congress MP shared a video on Twitter from the site and showed how they are braving the mosquito bites outside the Parliament building and continuing with their sit-in.

Kumar said the decision to stage a protest was taken on Wednesday morning. “It is difficult to make arrangements for the dharna. In fact, we are not even allowed to say the word dharna inside the Parliament complex. We have to adjust with whatever we have here,” he said. Eleven out of the 24 suspended parliamentarians were present in the complex when the CPI MP made the statements.

The MP from Kerala said essential facilities, including access to toilets and medical services, are available at the complex. “Food arrangements are being taken care of by the funds of political parties, including TMC and AAP. There is no worry about food here,” he said.

“It will be difficult to stage the dharna throughout the day considering the weather condition. A limited number of MPs will be there,” Kumar added.