New Delhi: After the suspension of 79 Opposition MPs from Parliament in a single day, another 49 members faced similar consequences today, resulting in a total of 141 MPs being suspended this session, setting a new record.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suspended National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Karti Chidambaram, NCP’s Supriya Sule, and Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav for disrupting proceedings today.
The Opposition MPs, protesting the major security breach in Lok Sabha last week, have been demanding Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s address to Parliament regarding the security failure. This breach allowed two intruders to enter the Lok Sabha chamber, traverse desks, and release colored smoke from canisters.
The Lok Sabha Speaker added that security incidents within the House fall under the secretariat’s jurisdiction, and the central government won’t be permitted to intervene, as stated last week. “The government cannot intervene in (responsibilities of) Lok Sabha secretariat. We will not allow that either,” he said last week.
In an interview with Dainik Jagran newspaper, Prime Minister Narendra Modi characterized the security breach as a “very serious” issue that warrants investigation. He added that there is no necessity for a debate on this matter.
Last week, suspensions began after a security breach. Opposition MPs wanted a statement from the Home Minister. Thirteen Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya Sabha MP got suspended for unruly behavior. More protests led to a total of 79 suspensions on Monday. This led to a record 79 suspensions across both Houses. Today’s 49 add to the spree.
Among these 141 MPs, the majority face suspension for the remainder of the session, while some await a report from the privileges committee regarding their conduct in the House.
Opposition MPs have been protesting against their suspension on Parliament premises.
Responding to the recent suspensions, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said, “A complete purge is being executed so that draconian Bills are passed without any meaningful debate.” He claimed that the suspension spree is also an effort to protect the BJP MP whose office facilitated the entry of two Parliament intruders.
“The new Parliament reflects Numeracy in all its tyranny,” Ramesh, one of the suspended MPs, added in his post.
The suspensions on Tuesday happened when Opposition members chanted slogans and a few approached the Well of the House. Several MPs displayed placards, and some held a morphed image of Prime Minister Modi. The Speaker said that bringing placards into the House goes against the rules.