Indian Parliament suspension spree continues: 49 more MPs ejected, total rises to 141

A day after a record 79 parliamentarians of Lok Sabha from the opposition parties were suspended, 49 more MPs faced a similar fate on Tuesday (Dec 19) for disrupting the proceedings of the parliament.

This takes the total number of parliamentarians suspended in this session to 141, making them unable to take part in the remainder of the winter session. Among the suspended, a few are under the lens for their conduct in the House.

Among the Lok Sabha members who were suspended by Speaker Om Birla include National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, NCP leader Supriya Sule, Congress members Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, and Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav.

The current session of the parliament has been facing repeated disruptions over the parliament security breach issue, during which two intruders entered the Lok Sabha floor, jumped over desks, and released coloured smoke from canisters.

Reacting to his suspension,Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told ANI news agency, "It is clear that they want an opposition-mukt (free) Lok Sabha and they will do something similar in Rajya Sabha. At this point, unfortunately, we have to start writing obituaries for parliamentary democracy in India...Today, in solidarity with my colleagues, I too joined the protest and everybody, who was present, has been suspended for the rest of the session which means they want to pass their bills without any discussion. I think it is a betrayal of Parliamentary democracy..."

Oppn wants Amit Shah to speak on security breach

The opposition parties have been demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah address the issue in the parliament, while some have also been seeking his resignation.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was also suspended last week, said, “This government has reached the apex of dictatorship. They have the majority, and they are wielding the stick of power.”

“They want to run Parliament like a party office. But that cannot happen. We were eager for a discussion. The productivity of Parliament before December 13 is for all to see. It seems they find it easier to talk to the media, but are scared to speak in Parliament," he added.

The central government has assured that it was taking the parliament security breach issue very seriously and appropriate action would be taken.

Last week, seven personnel of the Lok Sabha secretariat were suspended over the issue.

Govt firm on its stand

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has maintained that any security-related incident in the House comes under the purview of the secretariat, and it will not let the centre intervene.

"The government cannot intervene in (responsibilities of) Lok Sabha secretariat. We will not allow that either," he said last week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview to Dainik Jagran newspaper, said that the security breach as a "very serious" matter and added that there is no need for a debate on this.