“Hamara washroom itna bhayanak hai”, said Jaya Bachchan.
New Delhi:
Amid a slew of suspensions from the Parliament, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan spotlighted a slightly different kind of problem being faced by the Opposition parliamentarians who haven’t been suspended, yet. “Hamara washroom itna bhayanak hai (our washrooms are terrible),” Ms Bachchan said after she walked out of the Rajya Sabha in protest against the suspensions.
She also accused Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of not letting her speak.
“We have been trying to speak since morning. The Leader of the House has said that we will see how much patience you have. The House proceedings will go on till 11 pm tonight. They take water and loo breaks every five minutes. Even our washrooms are terrible,” she told NDTV.
The actor-turned-politician also slammed the Centre for trying to get the bills passed without any discussion: “They are using unfair and unjust measures If you wanted to pass the bill, do it just like that. What’s the point of doing ‘ayes and noes. Why this drama?”
The opposition benches in both the Houses wore a deserted look today as 49 members were suspended today in addition to the 78 that faced the same action yesterday. As of now, 141 Opposition MPs stand suspended from the Parliament.
The latest round of suspensions came after the Opposition members, who have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach in Lok Sabha, raised slogans and disrupted proceedings of the House that saw repeated adjournments since morning.
Terming the unprecedented action a “murder of democracy”, the Opposition alleged that the government wants an “Opposition-less” Parliament to “bulldoze” important legislations without debate.
Two other women Rajya Sabha MPs – Trinamool Congress’ Dola Sen and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi – were also accompanying Ms Bachchan. They are the only women MPs who have not been suspended from the Rajya Sabha.
Listing out the reasons for their walkout, Ms Chaturvedi said, “The chairman said he was hurt that someone mocked him while sitting on the Parliament stairs. We are also hurt that someone attacked the temple of democracy. Someone needs to fix the accountability and the Home Minister is the one who could do that. But we are hurt that he is prioritising his ego over the Parliament.”
“We are hurt that they are suspending the protesting parliamentarians and we are hurt that they are using pick and choose for this. We are hurt that bills are being passed without any discussion or debate. They created a new history in the new Parliament by suspending a record-breaking number of MPs. We hope that the Chairman would pay attention to our pain too which is why we walked out,” she added.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman expressed his pain over a suspended Trinamool MP mimicking him during a protest in the Parliament premises.
Suspended from the Parliament, the leaders staged a protest on the stairs of the building when Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee broke into an impromptu skit mocking Vice President Dhankhar. Rahul Gandhi was seen capturing the scene on his phone, sparking a political controversy.
This drew sharp reactions from the BJP as the Rajya Sabha chairman himself termed the opposition actions as “shameful” and “insult” to his background as a farmer and “position as a Jat”.
Abhinav Thawait is a globe-trotting correspondent with a passion for international affairs. With a background in international relations, he offers a global perspective on the most pressing issues around the world. Abhinav’s curiosity takes his to the far corners of the earth, where he seeks to share untold stories and diverse viewpoints.
