Leaders of several Opposition parties on Thursday took out a protest march in New Delhi against the government on several issues, including Pegasus and alleged manhandling of their MPs in Rajya Sabha, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the voice of people was "crushed" in the House.

Top leaders of several Opposition parties met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and then walked in protest from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk.

Those who attended the meeting included Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay Raut, Manoj Jha and other opposition leaders.

The protesting MPs carried placards and banners against the government that read 'Stop murder of democracy' and 'we demand Repeal of anti farmers laws'.

"The Parliament session is over. Frankly, as far as 60 percent of country is concerned, there was no Parliament session as the voice of 70 percent of people was crushed, humiliated," Gandhi told reporters.

"On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha MPs were physically beaten," he charged.

He said the Opposition was not allowed to speak inside Parliament and "this is nothing short of murder of democracy".

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had termed as "totally false" the Opposition's allegations that marshals manhandled their MPs and said one can check facts from CCTV footage.

The protest comes a day after the passage of bills in Rajya Sabha amid charges of manhandling of Opposition leaders.

What turned out to be the last day of the monsoon session saw the Rajya Sabha Chair crying and revealing that he spent a “sleepless night” after “the acts of sacrilege” in the House on Tuesday.

Towards the end of the day on Wednesday, while the insurance bill was being passed in the Rajya Sabha amid protests, the Opposition alleged that women members were pushed back by male marshals. Veteran MP Sharad Pawar said: “In my 55 years of parliamentary career, I never saw the way the women MPs were attacked today.”

The Congress, which had marshalled around 14 parties during the session, has accused the government of bulldozing democratic norms and traditions to escape parliamentary scrutiny of the Pegasus controversy and the agitating farmers’ demands.

Responding to Naidu’s description of Opposition members climbing on tables as “sacrilege”, several MPs contended that what constituted sacrilege was running the Houses in a “partisan” manner and in disregard of the rules.

“What is the option left if Parliament is not allowed to do its duty? The government only wants to push its business, pass bills without discussion and crush the voice of the Opposition,” the Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Kodikunnil Suresh, told The Telegraph.

Rashtriya Janata Dal member Manoj Jha told this newspaper: “It’s the ruling party that has committed the greatest act of sacrilege by throttling the spirit of parliamentary democracy. Such arrogance, such disdain for parliamentary tradition, such contempt for the Opposition had never before been seen in India’s history.

“The manner in which women MPs were manhandled by staff and marshals on the directions of the regime reminds us of the ‘night of long knives’ moment in Germany.”

Jha asked: “Is it imaginable that the parliamentary affairs minister blames the women MPs and demands action against them for manhandling marshals?"

Suresh, the Congress MP, said: “This government has bluntly told the nation through its obduracy that Parliament is not for people’s issues. Why shouldn’t Parliament discuss snooping done with a foreign spyware? Isn’t national security and illegal surveillance a concern?”

He had added: “Farmers are sitting outside Delhi for nine months; Covid mismanagement has played havoc with the people; the prices of petrol and diesel have crossed Rs 100 — shouldn’t these issues be discussed in Parliament? They did everything to black out the Opposition and they are blaming the Opposition. They used presiding officers to defame the Opposition.”

The Opposition believes that Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have been partisan in condemning the Opposition for disruptions and protests.