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Lok Sabha suspends 30 Opposition MPs for remainder of Winter Session
The action was taken as the MPs displayed placards inside the House during protests demanding a statement from union home minister Amit Shah.
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Monday suspended 30 Opposition members of Parliament, including Congress stalwart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, for the remainder of the Winter Session of Parliament. The action was taken as the MPs displayed placards inside the House during protests demanding a statement from union home minister Amit Shah on the Lok Sabha security breach.
The fresh action comes days after 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress, were suspended for displaying placards and unruly behaviour.
A united Opposition has been demanding statements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the Parliament since Wednesday last week, prompting successive adjournments.
On Sunday, PM Modi said in an interview there was a need for probe over the incident, not a debate in Parliament. Reacting to the remark, the Congress had accused him of running away from a debate over the issue as the BJP wanted to protect its MP Pratap Simha, whose office had provided access passes to the two intruders who created a ruckus inside the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition had been demanding reinstatement of the 13 suspended Lok Sabha MPs. Today, some of them protested with placards on the steps of the Parliament.
Congress MPs Mohammed Jawaid, Hibi Eden, Benny Behanan, Dean Kuriakose and CPI(M)'s S Venkatesan sat on the steps of Makar Dwar of Parliament, holding placards, protesting against the government.
"You (BJP leaders) praised the new Parliament building, claimed that it was fully secure, it has not even been four months and during a debate intruders came in the Lok Sabha chamber, what can be a bigger breach...so either the PM or the Home Minister (Amit Shah) should make a statement in the House," the Congress MP from Kishenganj had told PTI.
The MPs suspended today include DMK's T R Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran, and TMC's Saugata Roy.
Three more MPs -- K Jayakumar, Vijay Vasanth and Abdul Khaleque -- were suspended for climbing on the Speaker's podium.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion regarding their suspension; it was adopted by a voice vote.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
Modi had told Dainik Jagran in an interview that everyone must refrain from creating a controversy on such matters.
“Investigative agencies are probing rigorously. It is important to know who all are behind this and what plans they have. We should also seek solutions with a single mind. Everyone should refrain from debate, controversy, or resistance on such matters," Modi had said.
Also read: 'When a person entered Lok Sabha with pistols': BJP MP's tweet creates row
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha also witnessed ruckus over the issue.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday said it was an "insult" to Parliament that Modi and Shah made remarks on the breach in public but not in the Parliament.
In a post on X, Sibal said, "December 13 Security Breach. PM ji, Amit ji...Instead of facing Parliament, you both express yourself in public. An insult to Parliament. But then, for you, institutional etiquette is not part of your vocabulary!"
With inputs from PTI
