Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday suspended three more Opposition MPs for the remainder of the Winter Session of Parliament, taking the total number of suspensions in the lower house to an unprecedented 100, reported PTI.
With 46 MPs suspended in the Rajya Sabha, the number of suspensions in both the Houses since December 14 has reached 146.
The motion to suspend Congress legislators DK Suresh, Deepak Baij and Nakul Nath was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday. Joshi said that the House has taken a serious note of their misconduct through “display of placards, entering into the Well”.
The MPs were protesting against the large number of suspensions of other legislators from the House since December 14, who had been demanding a discussion on the Parliament security breach and a statement by Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah.
A day before, two men 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.
The Lok Sabha has passed several crucial bills amid nearly-empty Opposition benches.
The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, was passed by the lower house of Parliament on Thursday. The Rajya Sabha had passed it on December 12.
The bill aims to constitute a selection committee for the appointment of the election commissioners consisting of the prime minister (as chairperson), the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which seeks to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, which seeks to replace the Evidence Act.
The lower house on Wednesday also passed the the 2023 Telecommunications Bill that provides for the Centre to temporarily take control of telecom services in the interest of national security.
On the unprecedentedly high number of suspensions in the House and passage of important bills, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that the Central government did not want an Opposition in Parliament, reported Hindustan Times.
“It is like batting in a cricket match without any fielders,” said Chidambaram. “They are bringing very far-reaching laws which will have grave impact on to the daily life of this country, but they do not want any discussion, debate or dissent about it.”
The Opposition INDIA bloc earlier in the day marched from the Parliament to Vijay Chowk, carrying banners and placards that read “save democracy”, “Opposition MPs suspended”, “Parliament caged” and ‘’democracy expelled”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told repporters it is the right of the Opposition to speak in a democracy.
The INDIA bloc leaders will also hold protests at Jantar Mantar on Friday against the suspensions.
Meanwhile, adjourning the Lok Sabha sine die a day ahead of schedule, Birla said in his concluding remark that the House recorded 74% productivity in the Winter Session.
He said that the House held 14 sittings, worked for 61 hours and 50 minutes and passed 18 bills.
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