Suspended Congress MPs hold protest in Parliament complex

New Delhi: Four Congress Lok Sabha MPs on Tuesday held a protest in Parliament premises against their suspension from the House for the rest of the session and were joined by leaders of various opposition parties.

Alleging that their suspension amounted to "murder of democracy", the suspended MPs, Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, T N Prathapan and S Jothi Mani, staged a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament complex.

In a show of solidarity, leaders of Left parties, NCP, DMK and the Congress joined them in the protest and raised slogans against the government.

The four Congress Lok Sabha members were suspended for the rest of the session on Monday after Speaker Om Birla took a stern view of the continuous disruptions by opposition MPs since the beginning of the Monsoon Session.

Terming the action against its MPs as a "blot on democracy", an angry Congress had alleged that the government was trying to "intimidate" it for raising people's issues and said it would not be cowed down.