India
Unprecedented suspension of MPs cuts INDIA bloc’s strength by 50% in Rajya Sabha, 33% in Lok Sabha | India News
[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented action, nearly 100 opposition MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been suspended for unruly behaviour and causing a number of disruptions during a fierce showdown with the Centre over last week’s security breach in Parliament.
On Monday, 33 members were suspended from the lower house and 45 from the upper house after a chaotic day which saw opposition leaders chanting slogans and demanding a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah.
Out of these, as many as 77 MPs have been suspended for the remainder of the winter session which will end on December 22.
As it happened: Parliamentry proceedings on Dec 18
After the suspensions, the strength of the opposition bloc INDIA has been reduced to nearly half in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the front has now lost one-third of its members.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday. Another MP, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, is behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case and stands already suspended.
In the Lok Sabha, the opposition bloc has a total strength of 133 MPs of whom 46, or around one-third, stand suspended. The 46 include 33 suspended on Monday and 13 earlier.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, is among the lawmakers who have been suspended.
As per Rajya Sabha Secretariat sources, “this is the biggest ever suspension in the history of Rajya Sabha, where 45 legislators were suspended in a day.”
The suspensions would leave the INDIA bloc drastically impaired for the remainder of the session.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will now have to spearhead the alliance’s attack in Rajya Sabha while Congress’s parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi may have to lead the charge in the lower house.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPM’s floor leader Elamaram Kareem and DMK floor leader Tiruchi Siva will also have to lead the opposition charge along with Kharge in the upper house, as others stand suspended.
‘Murder of democracy’
The suspension of MPs has also triggered a massive political slugfest.
Terming the unprecedented action as “murder of democracy”, the opposition alleged that the government wants an “opposition-less” Parliament to “bulldoze” important legislations without debate.
However, Union minister Piyush Goyal claimed that the action was necessary as the opposition MPs insulted the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman.
“The rude behaviour of the Congress and its friendly partners of INDI alliance in both the Houses of Parliament today, and the manner in which several members brought placards in the House, it has embarrassed the entire country. Both the Speaker and the Chairman were insulted today,” he said outside the House.
Parliament security breach
On December 13, two men jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber and released yellow smoke from cannisters in a major security scare. The intruders were overpowered by MPs and handed over to the security personnel.
Around the same time, two people, including a woman, sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans ‘tanashahi nahi chalegi’ outside the Parliament premises.
The government has insisted that the security in Parliament complex is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha secretariat and it has been following the Speaker’s directives. It has also cited numerous such violations in the past, accusing the opposition of politicising the issue.
But the opposition parties have been demanding a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah, with some members even calling for his resignation
(With inputs from PTI)
On Monday, 33 members were suspended from the lower house and 45 from the upper house after a chaotic day which saw opposition leaders chanting slogans and demanding a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah.
Out of these, as many as 77 MPs have been suspended for the remainder of the winter session which will end on December 22.
As it happened: Parliamentry proceedings on Dec 18
After the suspensions, the strength of the opposition bloc INDIA has been reduced to nearly half in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the front has now lost one-third of its members.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday. Another MP, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, is behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case and stands already suspended.
In the Lok Sabha, the opposition bloc has a total strength of 133 MPs of whom 46, or around one-third, stand suspended. The 46 include 33 suspended on Monday and 13 earlier.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, is among the lawmakers who have been suspended.
As per Rajya Sabha Secretariat sources, “this is the biggest ever suspension in the history of Rajya Sabha, where 45 legislators were suspended in a day.”
The suspensions would leave the INDIA bloc drastically impaired for the remainder of the session.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will now have to spearhead the alliance’s attack in Rajya Sabha while Congress’s parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi may have to lead the charge in the lower house.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPM’s floor leader Elamaram Kareem and DMK floor leader Tiruchi Siva will also have to lead the opposition charge along with Kharge in the upper house, as others stand suspended.
‘Murder of democracy’
The suspension of MPs has also triggered a massive political slugfest.
Terming the unprecedented action as “murder of democracy”, the opposition alleged that the government wants an “opposition-less” Parliament to “bulldoze” important legislations without debate.
However, Union minister Piyush Goyal claimed that the action was necessary as the opposition MPs insulted the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman.
“The rude behaviour of the Congress and its friendly partners of INDI alliance in both the Houses of Parliament today, and the manner in which several members brought placards in the House, it has embarrassed the entire country. Both the Speaker and the Chairman were insulted today,” he said outside the House.
Parliament security breach
On December 13, two men jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber and released yellow smoke from cannisters in a major security scare. The intruders were overpowered by MPs and handed over to the security personnel.
Around the same time, two people, including a woman, sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans ‘tanashahi nahi chalegi’ outside the Parliament premises.
The government has insisted that the security in Parliament complex is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha secretariat and it has been following the Speaker’s directives. It has also cited numerous such violations in the past, accusing the opposition of politicising the issue.
But the opposition parties have been demanding a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah, with some members even calling for his resignation
(With inputs from PTI)
#Unprecedented #suspension #MPs #cuts #INDIA #blocs #strength #Rajya #Sabha #Lok #Sabha #India #News
