MPs protest naval exercises outside parliament

NEW DELHI: MPs of the Left, Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) shouted slogans and held a sit-in outside the main entrance of Parliament House on Thursday morning to protest against the ongoing five-nation naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal. The US is one of the five.
 
Almost 50 MPs took part in the 15-minute sit-in and raised slogans like "UPA government should come to its senses" and "Stop ties with imperialist forces".

The MPS, led by Communist Party of India-Marxist's Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat, TDP's Yerran Naidu and the Samajwadi Party's Shahid Siddiqui held banners reading - "US Navy, hands off Bay of Bengal" and "Stop Naval Exercises".

The MPs want to raise the issue inside parliament as well. On Wednesday, they could not do so as the opposition National Democratic Alliance disrupted the proceedings demanding a joint parliamentary committee over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

India, the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore are taking part in the naval exercises.