Seventy-nine opposition MPs suspended

FOUR DAYS after the suspension of 14 Opposition MPs – 13 in Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha – another 33 Opposition members were suspended from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha on Monday for disrupting proceedings. With 92 MPs being suspended in all, this is the highest ever suspensions in one session.

Protesting against the Parliament security breach on December 13, the Opposition members have been demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, followed by a discussion. Some MPs have also sought Shah’s resignation, and the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside Parliament to issue a statement.

Those suspended on Monday included senior Opposition leaders like Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK’s T R Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran, and TMC’s Saugata Roy (all from Lok Sabha); Congress’s Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav (all from Rajya Sabha).
Terming the suspensions as an “attack” on Parliament and democracy, the Congress alleged that the government wanted to “bulldoze” important Bills in an “Opposition-less Parliament”. It also accused the government of trying to “divert attention” and “avoid accountability and scrutiny of Parliament”.

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.

“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.

“They wanted to divert attention from the real issues, including the security breach, and help the Home Minister escape the responsibility for it,” said Manickam Tagore, Congress whip in Lok Sabha who was among those suspended on Thursday, a day after two men with smoke cans jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery.

“This mass suspension displays the cowardice of the BJP, which does not dare to own up to its massive failure in intelligence and national affairs… The entire nation has watched the Union Home Minister going on a private news channel to explain his position, choosing to avoid the scrutiny of Parliament. He is trying to protect his parliamentary record by avoiding mention of the serious mistakes that have taken place,” Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, who was among those suspended on Monday, told The Indian Express.

On the other hand, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, 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.”

In Lok Sabha, while 30 members have been suspended for the rest of the session, the matter related to three members who climbed on the Speaker’s podium and raised slogans – K Jeyakumar, Vijay Vasanth and Abdul Khaleque, all from the Congress – has been sent to the privileges committee. The duration of their suspension will be decided after the committee’s report.

As soon as Lok Sabha met in the morning, Opposition members rushed to the well of the House, displaying placards and raising slogans including “Home Minister shame shame”, “Home Minister istifa do (Home Minister, resign)”, and “Pradhan Mantri Sadan mein aao (Prime Minister, come to the House)”, forcing the proceedings to be adjourned till 12 noon.

When the House met again at noon, Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, warned that members could face action if they continued to display placards. “Showing placards in the House is a violation of rules. The Speaker has already warned you. You should not show placards in the House… it will spoil your case. There would be action against you. Do not force the Chair to take action against you,” he told the MPs who were standing in the well.

After another adjournment, when the House met again, Agrawal named the 33 Opposition members. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi then moved a motion for suspending 30 members for the rest of the session. He also moved a separate motion referring the conduct of Jeyakumar, Vasanth and Khaleque to the privileges committee and suspending them pending a report from the panel. The motion was adopted by a voice vote, and the House was adjourned for the day.

In Rajya Sabha, while 34 members were suspended for the rest of the session, 11 – Jebi Mather Hisham, L Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, G C Chandrashekhar, Binoy Viswam, Sandosh Kumar P, Mohamed Abdulla, John Brittas and A A Rahim – have been directed to stay away from the House pending an inquiry report on their conduct by the privileges committee.

The members were suspended after the House adopted a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for suspension of 34 MPs for the remainder of the session and another one for referring cases of conduct of 11 other Opposition MPs to the privileges committee.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months and the 11 MPs will not be able to attend the proceedings of the House till then. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar first named the suspended members and then put the motion to vote, which was adopted by voice vote.

The Winter Session, which began on December 4 and is scheduled to end on December 22, has several Bills lined up, including the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, that seek to replace the Indian Evidence Act, Indian Penal Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure respectively. The Bills have been introduced and have been put on the agenda to be considered and passed.

On Monday, the government also introduced the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which allows the government to take over, manage or suspend any or all telecommunication services or networks in the interest of national security.

But, since the Parliament security breach last week, both Houses have witnessed uproar and repeated adjournments. While Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has made a statement on the issue in Lok Sabha, the Opposition members have insisted on a statement from the Home Minister.

While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has ordered a high-level inquiry into the breach, he has urged members not to politicize the issue. In a letter to MPs, he sought to delink the suspension of 13 MPs last week from the security breach, saying they were suspended for creating ruckus in the House, and urged members to give primacy to the dignity and decorum of the House.