Amid the ruckus in both Houses of the Parliament on Monday over the security breach on 13th December 2023, 33 Members of Parliament from Opposition Parties were suspended from Lok Sabha while 45 were suspended from Rajya Sabha. This takes the total number of suspended members in the Winter Session to 92. Earlier on 14th December, 13 MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha and 1 from Rajya Sabha.
The Opposition have been demanding statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a detailed discussion on the security lapse where two people jumped from the gallery in the Lower House and opened cannisters that released coloured gas.
Those suspended belonged to Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] and others.
In a post on X, Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge stated, “First, intruders attacked Parliament. Then Modi Govt attacking Parliament & Democracy. All Democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi Govt by suspending 47 MPs.”
“With an Opposition-Less Parliament, the Modi Govt can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate,” he added.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also said that the suspension, which is the highest in the history of the Indian Parliament, marks “Murder Of Democracy in India (MODI)!”
“Not only in the Lok Sabha, today there was a bloodbath in the Rajya Sabha also and 45 MPs from Indian parties were suspended for demanding the Home Minister’s statement on the security lapse on December 13 and demanding permission for the Leader of Opposition to speak. I am also included in this honor list for the first time in my 19 years of parliamentary career.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “This is the reality we are living with. It is shocking to see so many of my colleagues suspended for demanding accountability from the government in a parliamentary system! What is the point of a Parliament if Ministers do not wish to address it on issues of prime concern? Just to serve as a notice-board and rubber-stamp?”
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament, Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi said that the suspensions were a process of trampling the opposition. “To save Amit Shah ji and hide his failures, the rights of the opposition, public representatives and the Constitution are being bulldozed,” he said.
Six people have been charged with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Sagar Sharma (26) and Manoranjan Devarajegowda (34) were mobilized by MPs after they entered the Lok Sabha chamber with passes issued by BJP Member of Parliament from Karnataka, Pratap Simha. Amol Dharaj Shinde (25) and Neelam Singh (37) were apprehended outside the Parliament. The other accused are Vishal Sharma and Lalit Jha.
