Govt wants Oppn-free India: Cong protests agencies misuse, MPs suspension

Congress MPs held a sit-in at Vijay Chowk over the alleged misuse of investigative agencies and suspension of Opposition legislators

Congress MPs held a sit-in at Vijay Chowk here on Wednesday over the alleged misuse of investigative agencies and suspension of Opposition legislators, with senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury saying it seems that the government wants an "Opposition-mukt" Bharat.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, and a host of party MPs sat on a protest and raised slogans against the alleged "misuse" of agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the suspension of Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

They also raised the issue of price rise and the imposition of the Goods and Ssrvices Tax (GST) on certain essential daily-use items.

The MPs marched from the Parliament complex to the Vijay Chowk lawns, where they held a sit-in raising slogans and holding up banners.

"We are fighting on issues of people such as price rise and GST on essential items of daily use. We will keep fighting against this and the misuse of the ED and other agencies. The suspension of MPs is wrong and we demand that it be taken back immediately," Kharge told reporters.

Chowdhury said the manner in which investigative agencies are being used, it seems that the government wants an "Opposition-mukt Bharat".

Earlier in the day, the Congress alleged that the money-laundering law has been weaponised to target and humiliate people, and urged the Supreme Court to decide on the matter concerning the National Herald-Associated Journals Limited case soon.

The assertion came on a day when Congress president Sonia Gandhi (75) appeared before the ED for the third day to face questioning in connection with a money-laundering case pertaining to the National Herald newspaper.

The Congress also fielded its senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in solidarity with Sonia Gandhi and said political opponents should not be treated as "enemies".