During the pre-lunch session on 19 December, 49 more MPs from Lok Sabha were suspended for protesting, demanding accountability on security breach.
Published Dec 19, 2023 | 1:39 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 19, 2023 | 5:18 PM
MPs protesting near Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex. (X)
49 more MPs of Opposition parties were suspended on Tuesday afternoon, 19 December, in the Lok Sabha, taking the tally of suspended MPs in this session from both houses to 141 — the highest-ever in the history of the Indian Parliament.
The mass suspension of MPs continues, even as both Houses are expected to take up key Bills, including revised criminal reform Bills that aim to replace the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Indian Evidence Act.
Following the suspension of 78 MPs from both Houses of Parliament on Monday alone, the constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday decided to strongly raise the demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach issue in both Houses.
The implementation of this decision led to suspension of 49 more MPs in Lok Sabha. “The demand for Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement will continue and the suspended MPs will protest in front of the Gandhi statue,” Manickam Tagore, Congress whip in Lok Sabha, said after the meeting.
Tagore himself has been suspended from the Lok Sabha.
As many as 27 questions posed by suspended Opposition members of Lok Sabha were deleted from the list of queries to be asked on Tuesday. Similar action is expected to be followed in the case of members suspended today.
Similarly, the names of several suspended MPs were removed from groups of members asking the same question to various ministers.
The name of Hanuman Beniwal, who resigned from Lok Sabha after being elected as a member of the Rajasthan Assembly, was also deleted.
While two-starred questions asked by Aparupa Poddar of the Trinamool Congress and Ramya Haridas of the Congress were deleted, 25 unstarred questions were also deleted from the list.
Ministers give oral replies to starred questions and written replies to unstarred questions.
The suspended MPs protested near the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government, demanding the resignation of the prime minister and the home minister and the arrest of the BJP MP who issued entry passes to the intruders.
Earlier, they held a protest by sitting on the stairs of Parliament’s new building.
Many Opposition members, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, were present at the protest near the Gandhi statue.
“When the House is in session and a minister makes a statement outside, it amounts to (violation of) privilege of Parliament,” Kharge told reporters and wondered why the Home Minister was unwilling to make a statement in the House on the security breach issue.
Later, in a post on X, he said, “Modi-Shah have insulted the dignity of the House. Despite serious security lapses, they do not come to Parliament and give any statement. I am very sad that for the first time in history, so many MPs have been suspended. This is like destroying democracy and is a deep insult to the dignity of the House.”
मोदी-शाह ने सदन की गरिमा का अपमान किया है।
गंभीर सुरक्षा चूक के बावजूद वो संसद में आकर बयान नहीं देते।
मुझे बहुत दुःख है कि इतिहास में पहली बार इतने सांसदों को ससपेंड किया गया।
ये लोकतंत्र की धज्जियाँ उड़ाने जैसा है, सदन की मर्यादा पर गहरी ठेस है। pic.twitter.com/SK6Tt32MFh
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) December 19, 2023
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that he was holding a placard inside the well of the House for the first time in his Parliamentary career, to express solidarity with the MPs who were “unjustly suspended”.
“For the first time in my parliamentary career of nearly 15 years, I too entered the well of the House holding a placard calling for a discussion on the recent security breach. I did so out of solidarity with my @INCIndia colleagues, who have been unjustly suspended for demanding accountability from the government. I expect suspension to follow. It is a badge of honour to be defenestrated by an unfair process,” he wrote on X.
For the first time in my parliamentary career of nearly 15 years, I too entered the well of the House holding a placard calling for a discussion on the recent security breach. I did so out of solidarity with my @INCIndia colleagues, who have been unjustly suspended for demanding…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 19, 2023
“All we have been asking is that the Home Minister of India come to the floor of the House, take the House into confidence and in the presence of the PM give a statement. He has been waxing eloquent outside the House. All we are asking him to come and respect the House especially when the House is in session,” said Congress leader Karti Chidambaram.
VIDEO | "All we have been asking that the Home Minister of India come to the floor of the House, take the House into confidence and in the presence of the PM give a statement. He has been waxing eloquent outside the House. All we are asking him to come and respect the House… pic.twitter.com/vfOUoMQbYy
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 19, 2023
Tuesday’s action has taken the total number of MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to 141, with 92 being suspended since Thursday. AAP member Sanjay Singh was suspended as a Rajya Sabha member from 24 July.
The Opposition parties which are members of the INDIA bloc will hold a meeting in the national on Tuesday afternoon where the issue of suspension of their MPs will also be discussed.
The INDIA bloc has lost almost half its strength in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha as MPs continue to be suspended for alleged unruly behaviour and disregarding the directions of the Chair.
(With PTI inputs)
