Parliament Winter Session: 49 More Opposition MPs Suspended From Lok Sabha Over 'Unruly Behaviour'

New Delhi: As the Opposition continues to spar with the Narendra Modi government demanding answers on the recent Lok Sabha security breach, more Opposition MPs from Lok Sabha were suspended for the remaining Winter Session of Parliament for ''unruly behaviour, irresponsible conduct and disregard to the chair.'' Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal proposed to suspend more Opposition MPs including Supriya Sule, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Md Faisal,  Karti Chidambaram, Sudip Bandhopadhyay, Dimple Yadav and Danish Ali. A total of 141 Opposition MPs have been suspended from both houses of Parliament for unruly behaviour.

 

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in Lok Sabha proposes to suspend more Opposition MPs including Supriya Sule, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Md Faisal, Karti Chidambaram, Sudip Bandhopadhyay, Dimple Yadav and Danish Ali pic.twitter.com/vHlNsMh2Oh — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2023

 

Reacting to the suspension of 49 more MPs from Lok Sabha, including his own, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "...It is clear that they want an Opposition-Mukt Lok Sabha and they will do something similar in Rajya Sabha. At this point, unfortunately, we have to start writing obituaries for Parliamentary democracy in India...Today, in solidarity with my colleagues, I too joined the protest and everyone present there has been suspended for the rest of the session which means they want to pass their Bills without any discussion. I think it is a betrayal of Parliamentary democracy..."

 

Record Suspension Of MPs

The latest suspension comes a day after 78 Opposition MPs were suspended for the remainder of the ongoing 'Winter Session', for raising a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses on Monday to push for their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Parliament security breach incident.

A total of 78 MPs - 33 from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha - were suspended on Monday, following a ruckus over the demand by the Opposition for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident, taking the total number of lawmakers suspended for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session to 92 on Monday.

While 34 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, including Congress' Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala were suspended for the remainder of the 'Winter Session', the 'misconduct' of 11 others was also referred to the Privileges Committee, which has been asked to give its report in three months.

The members will remain suspended till a report is submitted by the panel. The reason for the suspension of opposition MPs for the rest of the Winter Session was cited to be 'misconduct' and failure to adhere to the directions of the Chair.

Meanwhile, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance MPs staged a massive protest outside the Gandhi statue in Parliament over the security breach issue. Following the suspensions on Monday, Opposition MPs lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, terming it 'autocratic'. Kharge said, "democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi government by suspending 47 MPs".

"With an Opposition-Less Parliament, the Modi government can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate," the Congress national president posted on X. He added that the Opposition's demands include a statement from Shah on the security breach and a discussion in both Houses.