From bringing blankets and sleeping bags to checking the weather updates, to getting homemade food – the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs made these arrangements as they held an overnight protest in the Parliament complex against the passage of the G RAM G Bill, which they said was “rammed through” both the Houses by the BJP-led NDA government.
The MPs, including Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale and Dola Sen, spent the night at the stairs of the Samvidhan Sadan or old Parliament House amid banners and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. They slammed the government for its move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G legislation.
The TMC’s Rajya Sabha members staged their protest from Thursday midnight, singing songs and holding banners. It concluded on Friday noon after they sang “Vande Mataram”. They alleged that the G Ram G Bill “disrespects” both Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, pointing out that it was Tagore who gave the title of “Mahatma” to Gandhi.
Several MPs from other Opposition parties also joined their sit-in early on Friday, who included the DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, Congress members Jebi Mather, Naseer Hussain, Imran Pratapgarhi and Shakti Singh Gohil, and the AAP’s Sandeep Pathak.
Some TMC MPs told The Indian Express that they made the plan to hold this overnight dharna once the Lok Sabha concluded the debate on the contentious Bill. “This was not the first time that we did a sit-in in Parliament complex which went on for the entire night. We had made arrangements to make sure that we are prepared,” they said.
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The MPs first considered holding their dharna under the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex, but eventually decided to do it on the steps leading to the old Parliament building owing to the cold weather.
“We had come prepared. We had brought home cooked food, spoken to the security staff for keeping the toilets open. We had blankets, food, phone chargers and everything we would require. We had even checked the weather forecast to be prepared for the cold,” said an MP.
A roster was made by the TMC MPs who took turns to take “short naps” during their protest. “We had prepared for mosquitoes too, but I guess they are all dead because of the severe air pollution in the national capital,” an MP quipped.
The MP said two cars were stationed near Parliament for an emergency or if someone fell ill during the night as the temperature dipped to 9 degrees Celsius. Amid a thick layer of smog and haze, Delhi’s air also remained in the “very poor” category.
The TMC members were in multiple layers of warm clothes due to the bitter chill. “While the first couple of hours were all fun and singing, as the night progressed we realised how cold it could get in Delhi outdoors. Around 3 am, the temperature dipped very low and we were all trying to bury ourselves under blankets,” said a TMC leader.
An MP said that TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior party leader Abhishek Banerjee were in touch with them through the night. “We had regular calls with them and they kept checking on us because of the cold and the terrible Delhi AQI,” the MP said.
Another MP said that food and beverages were sent by their colleagues from some Opposition parties – idli and sambar by Tiruchi Siva and pav bhaji by the Congress’s Shaktisinh Gohil, while SP MP Jaya Bachchan and Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury also brought food for them.
While the Lok Sabha passed the G RAM G Bill in the midst of vociferous protests by the Opposition members on Thursday afternoon, it was cleared by the Rajya Sabha amid uproar several hours later – just after midnight.
While the TMC’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs held the dharna through the night, the party’s Lok Sabha members joined them on Friday morning. “Some of the members were part of a protest that had also been done for the entire night against the farm Bills in September 2020. So, we were well prepared. We took turns to take naps and freshen up. Some of us had brought monkey caps to deal with the Delhi cold,” said a party leader.
The TMC MPs did not enter either of the two Houses Friday, when they were adjourned sine die as the Winter Session came to an end.
There have been several overnight protests by legislators on various issues in the Parliament premises or in state Assembly complexes across the country over the years.
July 2022, Parliament
During this year’s Monsoon Session, 20 suspended Rajya Sabha MPs — seven from the TMC, six from the DMK, three from the TRS (now BRS), two from the CPM and one each from the CPI and AAP — went on a 50-hour relay protest inside the Parliament complex, blaming the Centre for the gridlock in the House. The Opposition had been demanding a discussion on issues such as inflation, GST on essential items and LPG price hike.
September 2020, Parliament
Eight suspended MPs – from the Congress, TMC, CPM and AAP – spent one day and night on September 22, 2020 on the Parliament lawns in a sit-in protest against their suspension for “misconduct” during discussions on the farm laws.
The MPs — the Congress’s Rajeev Satav, Naseer Hussain and Ripun Bora; the TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen; AAP’s Sanjay Singh; and the CPM’s K K Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem — spent the night, but said they could get little sleep. Senior Opposition MPs such as then Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), Sanjay Raut (then Shiv Sena) and Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) dropped by at night as a show of support for them.