Black day for democracy: Ruling BJP gets 78 Oppn MPs suspended in a single day
For the first time in the history of independent India, 78 Opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament in a single day. Today, 33 MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha, followed by 45 from the Rajya Sabha.
While 30 of the 33 from the Lok Sabha were suspended for the remainder of the winter session, three were suspended pending the report of the Privileges Committee. Similarly, in the Rajya Sabha, 34 were suspended immediately and 11 remain suspended pending the report of the House Privileges Committee.
It is said that, in a democracy, the House (Parliament) belongs to the Opposition. This sacred and time-tested axiom was turned on its head today by the suspension of the 78 MPs.
Unable to tolerate the demand for statements from PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the major security breach in Parliament on December 13, as it should not be in a democracy, the ruling BJP brought motions and got them passed through its brute majority.
Today’s suspension follows that of 14 MPs—13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha—on December 14, also for the rest of the winter session.
Therefore, a total of 92 MPs have been suspended—78 for the rest of the session and 14 pending the reports of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Privileges Committees. The winter session is slated to end on December 22, that is, the coming Friday.
Today’s suspensions were for the same reason as that of December 14—for going to the well of the House and demanding statements from PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the major security breach in Parliament on December 13, the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.
Among the suspended in the Lok Sabha are the Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of Congress, R Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK, and Saugata Roy and Kalyan Banerjee of the AITC. From the Rajya Sabha, those suspended include Congress MPs Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and KC Venugopal.
