Thirty-three Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha and 45 from the Rajya Sabha were suspended in an unprecedented move on Monday for the remainder of the Winter Session for allegedly disrupting the proceedings of the ouse as they sought discussion on the December 13 Parliament security breach.
This takes the total number of MPs who have been suspended from both the House since December 14 to 92.
The legislators were demanding a discussion on the security breach of Parliament on December 13 when two men had jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery and opened gas canisters. Outside Parliament, a man and a woman had opened smoke canisters.
In the latest suspension order, three of the 33 MPs – K Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth and Abdul Khaleque from the Congress – have been suspended for climbing onto the Speaker’s podium and shouting slogans. The matter was sent to the privilege committee to decide on the duration of their suspension.
The rest of the 30 MPs who have been suspended are Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Subburaman Thirunavukkarasar, Anto Antony, K Muraleedharan, K Suresh, Amar Singh, Rajmohan Unnithan and Gaurav Gogoi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam’s TR Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran, Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy, Sunil Kumar Mandal and Prasun Banerjee.
Other MPs include Kalyan Banerjee, Aparupa Poddar, Pratima Mondal, Kakori Ghosh Dastidar, Shatabdi Roy, Asit Kumar Mal, ET Mohammed Basheer and K Navaskani.
On Monday, as the session began in Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla addressed the Lower House and said that a high-level inquiry has been initiated into the security breach. The Opposition MPs, however, said that Shah should have issued the statement instead and protested while Birla addressed the Lok Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved the motion to suspend 34 Opposition MPs for disrupting proceedings on Monday. Eleven more MPs were later suspended from the Rajya Sabha till the Committee of Privilege submits report on them.
The Opposition has criticised the suspensions. Congress MP KC Venugopal said that Parliament is only functioning for suspension of MPs, reported ANI
“The House is functioning with only one purpose that is to suppress the entire voice of the Opposition and to suspend maximum people, those who are raising the issues of the people and security,” he said. “Now Parliament is for the suspension of the opposition MPs, not for debate and discussion.”
Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre is attacking country’s Parliament and democracy.
“All democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi government by suspending 47 MPs,” he said in a tweet.
He said that the Opposition only had two simple demands of the home minister making a statement in both Houses of Parliament on the breach in the Parliament security and a discussion on the issue.
“PM can give an interview to a newspaper, home minister can give interviews to TV channels,” Kharge said. “But, they have zero accountability left to Parliament – which represents the people of India. With an Opposition-Less Parliament, the Modi government can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate.”
Monday’s development comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in an interview with Dainik Jagran that the security breach was sad and worrying, but added that it should not become the subject of “squabbling or protests”.
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