141 MPs suspended for unruly behaviour, barred from entering Parliament lobby

In a circular, the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Tuesday issued orders barring the 141 suspended Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Parliament chamber, lobby and galleries.

A total of 95 MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha, while 46 were suspended from Rajya Sabha, prompting the INDIA coalition to announce nationwide anti-government protests on Friday.

The development came following a ruckus over the Opposition’s demand for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident, which happened on December 13, when the nation marked 22 years of the 2001 Parliament attacks.

While the opposition bloc slammed the suspension of MPs as “undemocratic”, the government justified the action as it accused the suspended MPs of insulting the Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Chairman and the institution of Parliament.

141 MPs SUSPENDED AMID WINTER SESSION: THE LATEST
Tuesday saw the suspension of 49 more opposition lawmakers from Lok Sabha, for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs facing action in both Houses of Parliament to 141. The action has prompted the INDIA coalition to announce nationwide anti-government protests on Friday.

While the opposition bloc slammed as “undemocratic” the suspension of MPs for display of placards demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach in Parliament, the government justified the action as it accused the suspended MPs of insulting Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Chairman and the institution of Parliament.

Following the suspension of 141 MPs, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular, barring the suspended MPs from entering the Parliament chamber, lobby and galleries.

Elaborating on Friday’s planned protest, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said a nationwide protest will be held on December 22 against the suspension of 141 MPs following a ruckus over the demand by the Opposition for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident.

“We have taken several decisions, one is on the suspended MPs. We will fight against this; this is wrong. We have united to fight against this. We have decided to hold an all-India protest against the suspension of MPs on December 22. We have passed a resolution that suspension is undemocratic. We will all have to fight to save democracy and all of us are ready to do that. We raised the issue of security breach in Parliament. We have been saying for a long time that Amit Shah or PM Modi should come to Parliament and speak in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha about the issue of Parliament security breach, but they are refusing to do so,” Kharge said on Tuesday.

As Lok Sabha met on Tuesday, opposition members trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans and waving placards, prompting Speaker Om Birla to warn them of action, citing rules of procedure. However, as the protest continued, he adjourned the proceedings till noon.

The unruly scenes were repeated when the House reassembled, prompting the government to draw up a list of 25 opposition members for suspension from Lok Sabha. The opposition benches then offered additional names from their ranks to the government in three tranches, taking the total number of members to be suspended from the Lok Sabha to 49.

Among the 49 members suspended on Tuesday were National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Congress members Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, NCP leader Supriya Sule and SP member Dimple Yadav.

A political row broke out as Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the opposition’s protest on the stairs of Parliament against the MPs’ suspension, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.

Rahul Gandhi was seen making a video of Banerjee who appeared to mimic the way Dhankhar walked by leaning forward and made reference to having a spine.

Later, Dhankhar gave vent to his anguish in Rajya Sabha, saying he was personally hurt as his farmer and Jat backgrounds were targeted.

“Imagine what must be going through my heart when your senior leader videographs a Member of Parliament mocking the institution of the chairman,” he said in Rajya Sabha.

With most of the opposition members under suspension, a bill to extend protection to unauthorised colonies in Delhi against punitive action for three years beyond the December 31 deadline, till December 2026, was passed by Parliament on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha, after a brief discussion in which three members took part.

On December 13, two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery during Zero Hour and opened smoke cans, released coloured smoke and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

Two others, including a woman, were detained outside the Parliament complex for staging a protest.