PM Modi, Amit Shah lead BJP MPs nationwide fast against Parliament disruption

Modi observed the fast even as he continued with his official work, including inaugurating the 10th edition of Defence Expo at Thiruvidanthai near Chennai. 

Shah undertook the hunger strike at Dharwad in election-bound Karnataka along with party's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa and other MPs.

Shah hit out at the Congress for "disrupting" Parliament, saying it happened for the first in independent India's history that the ruling party (BJP) was ready to discuss every issue but the opposition was shying away from discussion.

Bharatiya Janata Party MPs observed fast in their constituencies while Rajya Sabha MPs protested at various places.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was present at the DefExpo, also observed a fast.

In Delhi, all seven BJP MPs -- Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who represents Chandani Chowk constituency, East Delhi MP Maheish Girri, New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma, North West Delhi MP Udit Raj, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari -- observed fast, which will end at 5 p.m.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu joined them.

Tiwari, also the Delhi BJP President, said he will continue his "indefinite hunger strike" to protest against the continuous neglect of developmental works in his constituency by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.

The Budget session started on January 29 and went into a break on February 9. The two houses of Parliament met for the second half of the session on March 5, which concluded on Friday.

While the first half of the session -- January 31 to February 9 -- recorded 134 per cent productivity in the Lok Sabha and 96 per cent in the Rajya Sabha, in the second-half, from March 5 to April 6, the lower house recorded just four per cent productivity and the upper house eight per cent.