The Rajya Sabha took the decision to suspend 45 MPs from the Upper House for the duration of the Winter Session. This move came shortly after the Lok Sabha suspended 33 MPs amid ongoing protests by the Opposition, demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah regarding last week's security breach. The government's action has led to accusations from the Congress, claiming that it intends to push through legislation in Parliament without facing opposition dissent or scrutiny.

Before taking action, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar noted that Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge declined to meet him in the chamber. A motion proposed by Union Minister Piyush Goyal seeking the suspension of MPs over alleged "misconduct" was adopted by the Rajya Sabha.

Piyush Goyal stated, "34 MPs have been suspended, and the case of 11 MPs has been referred to the Privilege Committee. A total of 45 Rajya Sabha MPs have been suspended today. They did not want the House to run smoothly; this was their pre-planned strategy."

The Lok Sabha took the decision to suspend 33 opposition members, which included notable figures such as Congress stalwart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK leader TR Baalu, and TMC's Sougata Roy. The suspension was a consequence of their actions involving the display of placards and raising slogans.

Out of the 33 MPs, 30 were suspended in connection to the protests, while the remaining 3 faced suspension over a breach of privilege probe against them. In addition to the Lok Sabha suspensions, 13 Opposition members were also suspended from the Rajya Sabha for alleged "unruly" behavior.

The total number of MPs suspended from Parliament has now reached 93. Among those suspended from the Lok Sabha are prominent figures such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Amar Singh, Rajamohan Unnithan, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, K Muraleedharan, Anto Antony (all from Congress); Kalyan Banerjee, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, Sougata Ray, Satabdi Ray, Protima Mondal, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Asit Kumar Mal, Sunil Kumar Mondal (all from TMC); T R Baalu, A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, T Sumathy, K Navas Kani, Kalanidhi Veerasamy, C N Annadurai, S S Palanimanickam, G Selvam, S Ramalingam (all from DMK); ET Mohammed Basheer (IUML); N K Premachandran (RSP); and Kaushalendra Kumar (JD-U), as reported by PTI.

Three Congress members, namely K Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth, and Abdul Khaleque, who climbed onto the Speaker’s podium and raised slogans, were suspended from the Lok Sabha on charges of breaching privileges. In response, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the Narendra Modi government, stating that it had discarded democratic norms.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge writes on X, "Modi Govt is attacking Parliament and Democracy. Democratic norms are being discarded by an autocratic Modi Govt by suspending 47 MPs. We have two simple demands: 1. Union Home Minister should make a statement in both Houses on the breach in Parliament security. 2. A detailed discussion should be held. PM and Home Minister can give interviews, but they have ZERO accountability to Parliament, which represents the PEOPLE OF INDIA."

"With an Opposition-less Parliament, the Modi Government can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressed concern.

Regarding the security breach in Parliament Prime Minister Modi emphasized the need for a detailed investigation rather than a parliamentary debate. He stated, "What happened is very serious. There is no need to debate this; there should be a detailed investigation into this... Investigative agencies are probing rigorously."

Image source: ANI