New Delhi: Opposition leaders called off their ongoing sit-in dharna against the suspension of the 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for Thursday as a mark of respect towards Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and 12 others who lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

"We have decided not to protest, against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, today in honour of CDS Bipin Rawat and the soldiers who died in the chopper crash and to pay tribute to them, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Upper House, Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday told ANI,

Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "In the solidarity with the CDS and others who lost their lives in the crash, we have called off the protest today."

The Congress issued a statement saying, “As a mark of respect to late CDS and other jawans who lost their lives in chopper crashed we have suspended our dharma for today and will resume tomorrow.”

Rajya Sabha has been witnessing back-to-back adjournments since the commencement of the winter session on November 29 over the suspension of 12 MPs. The Opposition leaders have been protesting the suspension along with the suspended MPs at the Gandhi statue in the premises of the Parliament.

The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM.

On November 29, the members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.