New Delhi: Congress MPs, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi, on Monday held a protest inside the Parliament premises over the issue of communal riots in Delhi and demanded Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation.
Leaders from the opposition party have also given adjournment notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, demanding a debate over the violence in Delhi which has claimed at least 42 lives.
Demonstrating in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, Shashi Tharoor and others raised slogans and demanded Shah's resignation.
The Congress MPs held placards reading 'Save Our India', 'Prime Minister Must Answer' and 'Shah Must Resign'.
"When Delhi was burning, our home minister was playing the host in Ahmedabad. Playing a host is fine, but when Indians were being killed, that should have been the priority," Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Chowdhury said referring to the 'Namaste Trump' programme in which Shah had participated.
"There should be an investigation into the violence. The prime minister speaks after three days, the home minister does not say anything, Ajit Doval is sent to look into it, this is their failure," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Speaking to reporters, Tharoor said the Congress wants a debate over what happened in Delhi.
"The home minister has a big responsibility as the law and order is under him. The home minister must resign as he could not fulfil his responsibilities," he said.
The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the police of bias and inaction in the Delhi violence.
A Congress delegation, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, urged President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to call for Home Minister Shah's resignation over his alleged "abdication of duty" during the communal violence in Delhi and remind the Centre of its "raj dharma".
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, had also deliberated on the issue last week and passed a resolution, demanding answers from both the central and Delhi governments, while also urging the people of Delhi to "reject the politics of hate".
The Congress president on Friday had deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.
The delegation comprised All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge for Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, former MP Tariq Anwar and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.
The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11. After a break, it commenced on March 2 and will continue till April 3.
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