A day after Parliament was adjourned sine die, the Opposition on Thursday took its protest to the streets, marching to the adjacent Vijay Chowk alleging ‘murder of democracy’ and manhandling of lawmakers in Rajya Sabha.

“The Parliament session is over. As far as 60% of the country is concerned there has been no Parliament session. The voice of 60% of the country has been crushed, humiliated and yesterday in the Rajya Sabha physically beaten,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, reports ANI.

Gandhi said that the opposition had taken to streets as they were not allowed to speak in the Parliament. “This is murder of democracy,” he said standing at at Vijay Chowk, a stone’s throw from Parliament.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut added that the opposition did not get a chance to present their views in Parliament. “Yesterday’s incident against women MPs was against democracy. It felt like we were standing at the Pakistan border,” Raut said.

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Shashi Tharoor, the Congress lawmaker from Kerala, said that the Centre does not want to run the Parliament proceedings properly. “Government is passing laws without discussions. There should be a discussion on #COVID19 vaccination, current economic situation, unemployment, farm laws but the government is running away,” Tharoor said.

Before the protest, several opposition parties met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Those who attended the meeting included Gandhi,  Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay Raut, Manoj Jha and other opposition leaders.

The protest comes a day after the passage of bills in Rajya Sabha amid charges of manhandling of opposition leaders.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had termed as “totally false” the opposition’s allegations that marshals manhandled their MPs and said one can check facts from CCTV footage.