Fourteen Opposition MPs – 11 from the Lok Sabha and three from the Rajya Sabha – who were suspended during the Winter Session of Parliament in December, will return to Parliament in the Budget Session, The Hindu reported.
These legislators, among several others, had been suspended for demanding a discussion on the security breach of Parliament on December 13.
The Privileges Committee of both Houses has recommended that the suspension of the MPs be revoked.
“Everybody’s suspension will be withdrawn,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said. “We have requested the Speaker and the Chairperson on behalf of the government, and they have agreed.”
With this, all suspended Opposition MPs – 100 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha – will be able to return to the two Houses. The suspension of the other 132 MPs had ended on December 21, with the conclusion of the Winter Session.
At an all-party meeting on Tuesday chaired by Union minister Rajnath Singh, Opposition parties demanded a debate in Parliament on unemployment, high inflation, agrarian crisis and violence-hit Manipur, The Hindu reported.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Joshi said, “Since this is the last session of the present Lok Sabha, we [the Union government] have said we will give them [Opposition MPs] an opportunity [for debate] in the next session”.
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay demanded that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman include the Centre’s pending dues to West Bengal in the interim Budget, before the new government presents a more comprehensive Budget after the Lok Sabha polls.
On Sunday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned that her party will launch protests if the Centre does not clear the state’s dues, which stand at more than Rs 16,000 crore under various Union government schemes, within seven days.
Pramod Tiwari, the Congress’ deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, representing the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, drew attention to the recent attack in Assam on the party’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, as well as the state government’s alleged attempts to curb the yatra.
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