Opposition leaders protest in Parliament over Karnataka, Goa crisis

Opposition MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Communist Party of India held a protest in Parliament Complex, alleging that the political crises in Karnataka and Goa was a threat to democracy.

A number of top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Anand Sharma, protested near the Gandhi statue in the complex and shouted slogans. They also carried placards with messages like "Save Democracy" and "Stop bulldozing state governments".

Hitting out at the BJP over defections in the states, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "This is an assault on Constitution and murder of democracy.

"Is the BJP looking to make India a one-party state," he asked.

CPI's D Raja, RJD's Manoj Jha, TMC's Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and Dola Sen, NCP's Majid Memon and SP's Azam Khan were also among the protestors.

In Goa, the Congress suffered a serious setback on Wednesday as 10 of its 15 MLAs quit the party and joined the BJP.

The Congress leadership has blamed the saffron party for the desertions from its ranks in both the states. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that the Karnataka government has been reduced to a minority and has demanded Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's resignation.

Sources also said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Kumaraswamy on Wednesday evening and proposed a joint protest.