New Delhi, Dec 18: In an unprecedented move, 78 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament on Monday, in the highest number of suspensions in a day, triggering a strong reaction from the Congress and other parties that accused the BJP government of trying to bulldoze key legislations in an “Opposition-less” Parliament.
Monday’s action has taken the total number of opposition MPs suspended from both houses to 92 since last Thursday on the issue. AAP member Sanjay Singh has been suspended as a Rajya Sabha member from July 24.
Speaker Om Birla told the House about the steps taken by the Lok Sabha secretariat following the security breach incident on December 13 and sought cooperation from all members to run the House smoothly.
However, the opposition members were on their feet demanding a statement from Shah and his resignation. Some opposition MPs were also carrying placards with their demands written on them.
Birla objected to the placards being brought into the Lok Sabha, saying it lowers the dignity of the House.
The opposition MPs ignored the appeals of Birla and Joshi, and continued their protests, resulting in the suspension of 33 members.
The Rajya Sabha also witnessed similar action. While 34 MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, 11 have been directed to stay away from the House pending an inquiry report on their conduct by the Committee of Privileges.
The suspension triggered a political slugfest with opposition members terming the action as a “murder of democracy” and Goyal claiming that the action was necessary as the opposition MPs insulted the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Accusing the Congress and its allies of “embarrassing” the country with their conduct, Goyal told reporters that opposition members brought placards and willfully disrupted parliamentary proceedings despite the decision taken earlier that placards would not be allowed in the Houses.
Parliament watchers termed the mass suspensions as “unprecedented” and perhaps for the first time in the history of Parliament.
“It is an unprecedented development for 78 parliamentarians to be suspended in a single day,” G Ravindra, a legislative expert and a keen watcher of Parliamentary proceedings said.
Among those suspended on Monday were Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Amar Singh, Rajamohan Unnithan, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, K Muraleedharan, Anto Antony (all from Congress) and Kalyan Banerjee, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, Sougata Ray, Satabdi Ray, Protima Mondal, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Asit Kumar Mal, Sunil Kumar Mondal (all from TMC).
The 11 opposition members whose names have been referred to the privilege committee are – Jebi Mather Hisham, L Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, G. C. Chandrashekhar (all Cong), Binoy Viswam, Sandosh Kumar P (both CPI), Mohamed Abdulla (DMK), John Brittas and A A Rahim (both CPI-M).
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said not only in the Lok Sabha but there was a “bloodbath” in the Rajya Sabha too.
“Incidentally, I too figure in this Roll of Honour – for the first time in my parliamentary career of 19 years,” “This is Murder of Democracy in India(MODI) at work!” Ramesh said. (PTI)
