As many as 78 MPs were suspended from both Houses of Parliament in India on Monday, taking the total number of suspended MPs in this session to 92. Opposition leaders termed it a “murder of democracy' by the government led by Narendra Modi.
According to The Hindu, those suspended include the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK floor leader T.R. Baalu, former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, and Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy.
On Thursday, 14 MPs had been suspended, 13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha on Monday, 33 MPs were suspended at around 3 pm after repeated adjournments of the House, and after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out a letter he had written to all MPs on Saturday, stating that his office was responsible for the security of the Parliament House complex and that his earlier suspension of 13 MPs was unconnected with the security breach.
Opposition MPs, however, continued to protest and Mr. Birla adjourned the House till noon. As protests by MPs continued even after the House reconvened, presiding officer Rajendra Agarwal stated that the behavior was “inviting action from the Chair”. At 3 pm, after yet another adjournment, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi read out a resolution to suspend the 33 MPs, which was passed by a voice vote.
While 30 MPs in the Lok Sabha were suspended for the duration of the Winter Session, three Congress members – K. Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth, and Abdul Khaleque – faced suspension pending the report of the Privileges Committee, as they had climbed on the Speaker’s podium to raise slogans.
Both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the protesting Opposition MPs were demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on last week’s security breach in the Lok Sabha, which led to the arrest of six people.
