New Delhi, Dec 18 – The Indian Parliament witnessed unprecedented scenes of disorder and disruption on Monday as 78 opposition MPs were suspended for the rest of the winter session for “repeatedly obstructing the proceedings of the House”.
The suspension, which involved 33 members of the lower house of the Lok Sabha and 45 members of the upper house of the Rajya Sabha, has been described as the largest suspension of parliamentarians in India’s parliamentary history.
The opposition MPs, belonging to various parties such as the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were protesting against the federal government’s policies on various issues such as the farm laws, the price rise, the COVID-19 situation, and the security breach in the Parliament last week.
Last week, 13 MPs of the Lok Sabha and 14 MPs of the Rajya Sabha were suspended for ‘improper conduct’ during the proceedings of the House.
Similarly, on December 13, two youths entered the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery and raised slogans against the federal government, raising the issue of security violations inside the parliament. The incident caused a huge uproar in the House and led to repeated adjournments. The two youths were later arrested and charged with trespassing and breach of peace.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the incident of security breach is “extremely serious” and has ordered a thorough investigation into the matter. He has also accused the opposition of creating a “negative atmosphere” in the Parliament and disrupting the functioning of the democracy.
On Monday, the suspended opposition MPs demanded that the suspension of MPs be lifted and that Federal Home Minister Amit Shah issue a statement regarding the incident of Parliament security breach last week. They also staged a walkout from the House and held a protest outside the Parliament premises.
After the suspension, the regular proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned for the whole day. The Rajya Sabha, however, continued with its business and passed several bills, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which grants citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The winter session of the Parliament, which began on November 29, is scheduled to end on December 23. However, with the ongoing deadlock between the government and the opposition, it is unlikely that any meaningful debate or discussion will take place in the remaining days of the session.
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