DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
National, Dec 18
In an unprecedented development in India’s parliament history, a total of 78 opposition MPs were suspended on Monday for protesting against the recent security breach in the house and disregarding the directions of the Chair.
The INDIA bloc, an alliance of opposition parties formed to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 general elections, lost almost half its strength in Rajya Sabha and one-third in Lok Sabha.
The lower house suspended 33 MPs including Congress’s leader in the house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK leader T.R. Balu and Trinamool Congress’s Sougata Ray on Monday after they disrupted the proceedings, demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the security breach in parliament.
Hours later, Rajya Sabha witnessed the suspension of 45 members, including Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and K.C. Venugopal, after they staged protest in the house.
With 14 opposition MPs, including TMC’s Derek O’Brien, already under suspension for “unruly conduct” in the house, the total number of members placed under suspension during the winter session stands at 92.
INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha. With AAP’s Sanjay Singh already behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case and under suspension, the strength of the opposition alliance in the upper house has now reduced to 49.
In Lok Sabha, on the other hand, the opposition bloc has a total strength of 133 MPs of whom 46—around on-third—stand suspended. The 46 include 33 suspended on Monday and 13 earlier.
Those suspended from the lower house on Monday also included Gaurav Gogoi, K. Suresh, Amar Singh, Rajamohan Unnithan, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, K Muraleedharan, Anto Antony (all from Congress), Kalyan Banerjee, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, Satabdi Ray, Protima Mondal, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Asit Kumar Mal and Sunil Kumar Mondal (all from TMC).
The list also included A. Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, T. Sumathy, K. Navas Kani, Kalanidhi Veerasamy, C.N. Annadurai, S.S. Palanimanickam, G. Selvam, S. Ramalingam (all from DMK), E.T. Mohammed Basheer (IUML), N.K. Premachandran (RSP) and Kaushalendra Kumar (JD-U).
Three Congress members—K. Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth and Abdul Khaleque—who had climbed on the speaker’s podium and raised slogans, were suspended from the lower house pending report of the Privileges Committee on their unparliamentary behaviour.
In Rajya Sabha, while 34 members were suspended for the remaining part of the session, the “misconduct” of 11 others was referred to the Privileges Committee, which has been asked to give its report in three months. They have been suspended until the report is submitted by the panel.
For Congress, which has got most number of MPs under suspension, party president Mallikarjun Kharge will have to lead the party’s attack in Lok Sabha while senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will spearhead the party’s campaign in Rajya Sabha.
