Songs, home food, Gandhi statue by their side, Opposition members rally around suspended AAP MP

“I am a poet. So I have composed a poem on Manipur, which seems to have struck a chord with the people,” Pratapgarhi, a Congress Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, said. “It appears the government is unwilling to even hear the word ‘Manipur’. So we are sitting here, next to the Gandhi statue, and talking about it.”

The protesting MPs realise this is going to be a long-drawn struggle, but there’s little option, they noted, to bring the issue to the government’s notice. “We went to Manipur and saw the terrible state of affairs there — no food, no medicine,” Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen said at the protest site. “We want to hold a discussion on it and we want the Prime Minister to make a statement. What is wrong with this demand?”

Every party has prepared a roster for its MPs to ensure round-the-clock presence at the Gandhi statue site.

“Time is divided between MPs to be present at night and in the morning,” Sen said. “We will not leave Sanjay Singh alone. Tomorrow they may suspend us. We are in this together.”

On Monday, AAP members Sanjeev Arora brought breakfast, while Sushil Gupta got dinner for the protesting MPs. “Simple, home-cooked food and water to keep all of us going,” Gupta said. “Sleeping under the stars…it’s full of mosquitoes, but our resolve is strong.”

A candlelight march has been planned for the night in remembrance of victims in Manipur. “It is a remarkable experience to see Parliament first thing after waking up,” Jebi Mather, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, said. “The government probably wanted to scare us by suspending Sanjay Singh. In fact, it has done quite the opposite — we are all here, together.”