 "78 'unruly' Oppn MPs suspended from Parliament today, total suspensions now stand at 92")
As many as 78 Opposition MPs - 33 from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha - were suspended from Parliament for disrupting the proceedings on Monday. With this, a total of 92 MPs have been suspended from Parliament for the remaining Winter Session. The Lok Sabha suspended 33 opposition members, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, T R Baalu and Sougata Ray, from the House for displaying placards and raising slogans over the Parliament’s security breach issue, demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah. While 30 Lok Sabha members, including 10 from the DMK, nine from the Trinamool Congress, eight from the Congress and one each from IUML, JD(U) and RSP were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, three other Congress members were suspended pending a report of the Privileges Committee. Last week, 13 Lok Sabha Opposition MPs were suspended for disrupting the proceedings. The total number of suspended MPs in Lok Sabha now stands at 46. In Rajya Sabha, as many as 34 Opposition members including Congress’ Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala; TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Santanu Sen and RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha, were suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session while the case of 11 MPs has been referred to the Privilege Committee. Last week, one Opposition MP was suspended from Rajya Sabha. With this the total number of suspensions in the House stands at 46. 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. Among the 34 suspended for the remainder of the session, 12 MPs are from the Congress. The suspended members are - Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, Amee Yajnik, Naranbhai J Rathwa, Syed Nasir Hussain, Shrimati Phulo Devi Netam, Shaktisinh Gohil, K.C.Venugopal, Rajani Ashokrao Patil, Ranjeet Ranjan, Imran Pratapgarhi, Randeep Singh Surjewala (all of Congress), while seven members are from TMC - Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Santanu Sen, Mausam Noor, Prakash Chik Baraik and Samirul Islam. Others suspended for the winter session are M Shanmugam, N. R. Elango, Kanimozhi NVN Somu, R. Girirajan, Manoj Kumar Jha, Faiyaz Ahmad V. Sivadasan, Ram Nath Thakur, Aneel Prasad Hegde, Vandana Chavan, Ram Gopal Yadav, Javed Ali Khan, Mahua Maji, Jose K. Mani and Ajit Kumar Bhuyan. 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, Binoy Viswam, Sandosh Kumar P, Mohamed Abdulla, John Brittasand A A Rahim.
Winter Session | A total of 34 Opposition MPs, including Congress' Jairam Ramesh, K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala; TMC's 1. Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Santanu Sen; RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha, suspended from the Rajya Sabha today for the remainder of the Session. pic.twitter.com/fWraxpGwGN
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2023
The matter of suspension of the following 11 Rajya Sabha MPs referred to the Privilege Committee. pic.twitter.com/M3NHnPKJ3R
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2023
After the development, Congress president and LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of attacking Parliament and democracy.
Congress president and LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge tweets, "First, intruders attacked Parliament. Then Modi Govt attacking Parliament & Democracy. All Democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi Govt by suspending 47 MPs...With an… pic.twitter.com/RAbQptPl5S
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2023
“First, intruders attacked Parliament. Then Modi Govt attacking Parliament & Democracy. All Democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi Govt by suspending 47 MPs…With an Opposition-Less Parliament, the Modi Govt can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate,” he wrote on X after the suspension of Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha. Speaking to reporters after his suspension, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Congress has been demanding that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement on the Parliament breach issue.
#WATCH | On his suspension from the Lok Sabha, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, "All leaders, including me, have been suspended. We have been demanding for days to reinstate our MPs who were suspended earlier and that the Home Minister come to the… pic.twitter.com/y19hCUY7iG
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2023
“All leaders, including me, have been suspended. We have been demanding for days to reinstate our MPs who were suspended earlier and that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement. He gives statements to the TV every day and he can speak a little in the Parliament too regarding what is being done by the Government for the security of the Parliament…Today’s Government has reached the heights of tyranny…We wanted discussion…,” said Chowdhury. Opposition members have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the breach of Parliament’s security on 13 December which saw two youths entering Parliament with smoke cans. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in post on ‘X’ earlier in the day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken on the issue outside the Parliament when the winter session is underway. “The Prime Minister speaks to a leading newspaper on the very serious December 13th security breach in the Lok Sabha. The Home Minister speaks to a TV channel on the security breach. Parliament is in session. INDIA parties are demanding a statement from the Home Minister in both Houses on the shocking incidents. It is a simple, straightforward and legitimate demand. But Home Minister refuses to make a statement which is his duty and responsibility. This is why Parliament is getting adjourned repeatedly,” Jairam Ramesh said. Rajya Sabha has also witnessed repeated adjournments on the issue. With inputs from agencies
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