Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, on Thursday, criticised the suspension of opposition parliamentarians as well as the mimicry of the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Her statement came at a time when Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) members and the government are at loggerheads over parliament security breach and mimicry issue.

“Our party believes that the suspension of around 150 MPs in the current parliamentary session is neither a commendable achievement for the opposition nor the government. In parliamentary history, this incident will be remembered as unfortunate and as a blow to people’s trust,” she said.

Mayawati further said that the video of the mimicry of the vice president by the suspended MP on Parliament premises was also inappropriate and indecent.

“It is essential to protect democracy and the country’s parliamentary traditions from being put to shame through such incidents of differences between the government and opposition. Passing essential bills in an opposition-free Parliament is also not a good precedent,” she added.

INDIA bloc MPs held a march against the government from Vijay Chowk to Parliament against the suspension of MPs. The Bharatiya Janata Party also staged a protest against the mimicry incident in which All India Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee mimicked Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, terming it an insult to farmers and constitutional post.

The streak of suspensions of opposition MPs continued on Wednesday as well. The Congress alleged that more than 140 INDIA bloc MPs were “thrown out” of both Houses so that Union Home Minister Amit Shah could get three “draconian” bills passed in the Lok Sabha without any informed dissent.

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three key bills - the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill - that seek to overhaul the criminal justice system. Shah asserted that the government’s focus with these bills was on delivering speedy justice rather than handing down punishment.

Meanwhile, Mayawati said that her party respected all religions. “Whenever a mosque is constructed by the government on the orders of the court in Ayodhya, our party will not object to its inauguration. Our party fully respects all religious places. But for the last few years, disgusting politics is being done, this is sad and worrying. This should not happen. This will only make our country weaker, not stronger”, she said in a statement.