Rahul Gandhi rides bicycle to Parliament over fuel price hike

New Delhi: As the logjam in Parliament continued, Opposition parties intensified the protests by heading to conduct a mock session outside the Houses. In a mark of protest against skyrocketing fuel prices, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with other leaders on Tuesday rode bicycles to the parliament. Petrol price has crossed Rs 100 per litre in different parts of the country.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "Today the Government is disrupting and it is weakening Parliamentary democracy. All Opposition parties are united, believing that the pain of the common people must be expressed. Opposition is doing its duty that if Government will not let the Parliament function, we will take the voice of people to the street."

"Petrol-diesel price hike is killing the common people. Modi-Shah government is just not able to see the truth. Therefore as a protest, we are going to the Parliament on cycle," Congress MP Manickam Tagore said. Regarding united opposition, he added, "It has to be there. All the voices are united. Now the Government has to hear us."

Reports said, 15 opposition parties attended the breakfast meeting led by Rahul Gandhi at Constitution Club. "The most important thing in my view is that we unite this force. The more this voice of the people is united, the more powerful this voice will become, it will be more difficult for BJP-RSS to suppress" said Rahul Gandhi during the meeting. Pegasus snooping row also surfaced during the meeting.

Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India (CPI), Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Kerala Congress (M) (KCM), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), National Conference (NC), Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) parties attended the meeting.

However, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bahujan Samaj Party refrained from attending the meeting. After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to send out the message, "One priority - our country, our people."

Opposition parties have been pressing on Pegasus snooping row, Covid crisis, inflation. Parliament has been witnessing stormy sessions since the commencement of Monsoon session. Vociferous sessions kicked off after Union Minister of IT Ashwini Vaishnaw's statement that media report on Pegasus row was an attempt to malign Indian democracy. Pralhad Joshi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister termed it as a "non-issue".