[Suspended MPs protesting on the stairs of the Parliament building Monday Dec 18, 2023.]
New Delhi: As many as 92 MPs from different opposition parties - 78 today i.e. Monday December 18, 2023 and 14 last week, have been suspended for the rest of Parliament’s Winter Session for "disrupting" the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings.
The 92 MPs, including both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, were suspended for staging protests demanding a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament.
The security of the Parliament was on December 13, 2023 breached when two youths armed with gas canisters intruded the Lok Sabha proceeding and sprayed yellow smoke. Another two similarly carrying gas canisters crated havoc outside the Parliament building.
As many as six accused, at least two of them carrying passes issued by a BJP MP, have been arrested by the Delhi Police.
Modi ko sanmati de Bhagwan... This was song what we all suspended MPs sang outside the parliament to protest against historic suspension of around 92 opposition MPs. pic.twitter.com/MZFgMaut8d— Samirul Islam (@Samirul65556476) December 18, 2023
Modi ko sanmati de Bhagwan... This was song what we all suspended MPs sang outside the parliament to protest against historic suspension of around 92 opposition MPs. pic.twitter.com/MZFgMaut8d
Terming the incident a “very serious matter”, MPs from different opposition parties are demanding Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in the Parliament. He is however not ready, prompting protests from the opposition parties.
The suspended MPs from Lok Sabha included Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress's leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of the party in the House, senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav (all from Rajya Sabha).
Trinamool MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Saugata Ray and Satabdi Roy, and DMK members A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran are also on the list.
Suspension of 92 MPs from the Parliament is the highest ever in one session.
Condemning the suspension of MPs, the Congress party called it an "attack on Parliament and democracy" and alleged that the Narendra Modi government wanted to “bulldoze” important Bills in an “Opposition-less Parliament”.
The Congress also accused the government of trying to “divert attention” and “avoid accountability and scrutiny of the Parliament”.
“First, there was an attack on Parliament on December 13, 2003. Today again, the Modi government has attacked Parliament and democracy… All democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by the autocratic Modi government,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted.
“With an Opposition-less Parliament, the Modi government can now bulldoze important pending legislation, crush any dissent, without any debate,” Kharge, who is also Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said.
The BJP, on the other hand, alleged a “pre-planned strategy” to “block important Bills”, and accused the Congress and its allies of “insulting” the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairperson.
On the other hand, Piyush Goyal, alleged a “pre-planned strategy” by the Opposition to stall proceedings and “block important Bills”. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, he said:
“They repeatedly came to the well of the House. There was a unanimous decision, in the presence of the Speaker and the Chairman, that no member, be it from the ruling party or Opposition, would go to the well of the House carrying a placard and disrupt the proceedings. Despite this, many MPs in both the Houses have come with placards. They rejected the appeals from the Chair", Union Minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal, said while talking to reporters outside Parliament.
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