INDIA bloc MPs protest outside Parliament premises. Photo: Screengrab from PTI video INDIA bloc MPs protest outside Parliament premises. Photo: Screengrab from PTI video 
INDIA bloc MPs staged a protest outside Parliament on Tuesday, demanding a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani Group's alleged involvement in bribery and fraud. The protest gained momentum as leaders from Congress, AAP, RJDhavefun888, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, and the Left parties raised slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and calling for accountability.
VIDEO | Opposition MPs stage protest over Adani issue inside Parliament premises in Delhi. (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#ParliamentWinterSession pic.twitter.com/n1gS5qhslr
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 3, 2024The demonstration was led by prominent opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, RJD’s Misa Bharti, and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, all of whom gathered on the steps of the Parliament’s Makar Dwar.
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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that opposition parties had no choice but to stage the protest outside after being unable to raise their issues within the House.”We are protesting against the Modi government's policies... We can not protest inside the House that is why we have staged a protest outside and we will hold the proceedings of the House smoothly from today,” Tharoor said while speaking with PTI.
VIDEO | "We are protesting against Modi government's policies... We can not protest inside the House that is why we have staged a protest outside and we will hold the proceedings of House smoothly from today," says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) on opposition parties… pic.twitter.com/0Y2ZjaPKh5
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 3, 2024Another Congress MP Karti Chidambaram while speaking to news agency ANI, pointed out that while the allegations were made in another country, they pertain to actions carried out within India. “There has to be an investigation. The allegations are made in another country but the allegations pertain to acts which have happened here. So, isn't it incumbent upon us to verify the veracity of those allegations? This has far-reaching consequences...Those allegations might be false but only an investigation can prove it one way or the other…” he said.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Virendra Singh echoed these opinions and defended the opposition's actions. He emphasized that the protest was an expression of their duty to the public. “If we can’t raise issues inside the House, where else should we go?” PTI quoted Singh as he reaffirmed that the opposition's decision to protest outside Parliament was an alternative avenue for addressing their concerns.
However, the protest has not been without internal differences within the opposition camp. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) was absent from the demonstration. On his party’s absence from the protest, TMC MP Samik Bhattacharya said that the alliance was in disarray, with parties like Congress and AAP often not on the same page. “You can see the condition of the alliance. Sometimes TMC is missing, and sometimes AAP is missing. Wherever Congress goes to people, the public rejects them there. Congress now has just one place - Parliament Gate or not allowing the House to function. That is the agenda of Congress. Nobody knows when and where will the TMC go...Mamata Banerjee wanted Mallikarjun Kharge to be the face of this alliance. She had given a proposal for him to be the PM of the country. The same Mallikarjun Kharge's clarion call does not include TMC now. This is all a drama now. They are harming the decorum of democracy,” he told ANI.
On the other hand, BJP MP Arun Govil questioned the motivations behind the protest by the opposition. “Parliament is meant for constructive business. Why this disruption now? Yesterday, they said that an agreement has been made. Now, they are doing this. Why are they doing this, only they know...Parliament is for constructive business, for constructive politics…” he said while speaking to ANI.
The protest follows the indictment of Adani Group's chairman, Gautam Adani, and other executives by US prosecutors on charges related to bribery and fraud. The Congress party, alongside its allies, has seized on this development to reaffirm their call for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) inquiry into the group’s alleged corrupt practices. Rahul Gandhi has further called for the immediate arrest of Adani in the wake of the allegations.
After a week-long impasse, the government and the opposition reached a breakthrough on Monday. Following this, both the houses functioned smoothly on Tuesday apart from a brief walk-out by the opposition in Lok Sabha. The issue of Tamil Nadu floods, Sambhal violence, and stubble burning were raised during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla warned the members on Tuesday that if the business of the House is disrupted further due to adjournmentshavefun888, then he will have to convene the proceedings over the weekends to make up for the loss of time.