New Delhi: Lok Sabha on Monday suspended 33 opposition members, including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, from House for remainder of Winter Session. K Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth and Abdul Khaleque are among those suspended from the Lok Sabha, news agency PTI reported. The suspension occurred as opposition members protested in the Houses, seeking a reply from Union Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security incident.
The latest push comes only days after 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress, were suspended for carrying banners and engaging in disruptive conduct.
On his suspension, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “All leaders, including me, have been suspended. We have been demanding for days to reinstate our MPs who were suspended earlier and that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement. He gives statements to the TV every day and he can speak a little in the Parliament too regarding what is being done by the Government for the security of the Parliament. Today’s Government has reached the heights of tyranny. We wanted discussion.”
Since last Wednesday, a unified Opposition has demanded responses from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, necessitating many adjournments.
In an interview on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi stated that an investigation into the event, rather than a discussion in Parliament, was required. In response to his comments, the Congress accused him of avoiding a debate on the subject because the BJP sought to protect its MP Pratap Simha, whose office issued entry cards to the two intruders who caused a commotion inside the Lok Sabha.
The opposition had called for the restoration of the 13 suspended Lok Sabha members. Some of them demonstrated with placards on the steps of Parliament today.
