On Monday, 18 December, the Lok Sabha suspended 33 Opposition members for causing disruptions in the House, related to the security breach in the Lok Sabha and their insistence on the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
During Monday’s session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suspended a total of 33 Opposition MPs, including prominent Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, for the entirety of the Winter Session of Parliament. Additionally, disruptions by Assam MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Abdul Khaleque led to their suspension from house proceedings.
The suspended members, which comprised individuals such as Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, ET Md Basheer, G Selvan, CN Annadurai, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dr T Sumathy, Gaurav Gogoi, TR Balu, Shatabdi Roy, Saugata Roy, Kaushlendra Kumar, Amar Singh, and others, faced disciplinary action due to their blatant disregard for parliamentary norms, including the display of placards in the House.
On December 14, 13 Lok Sabha MPs faced suspension, and Derek O’Brien, a Rajya Sabha MP, received suspension for the duration of the remaining session.
Reports indicate that the suspension of MPs, who displayed placards inside the House while demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Lok Sabha security breach, follows recent action where 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress, were suspended for disruptive behavior. The united Opposition has consistently sought statements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, leading to multiple adjournments since last Wednesday.
During an interview on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi emphasized the need for an investigation into the incident rather than a parliamentary debate. In response, the Congress accused him of evading a discussion, alleging that the BJP aimed to shield its MP Pratap Simha. Simha’s office reportedly issued entry cards to the two intruders responsible for the disruption in the Lok Sabha. The opposition demanded the reinstatement of the 13 suspended Lok Sabha members, some of whom staged a demonstration with placards on the Parliament steps today.
