Suspended opposition MPs protest during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: As many as 49 more Lok Sabha MPs of the I.N.D.I.A allies were suspended on Tuesday, taking the total number of suspensions in the winter session to 141. With a lone Opposition MP — Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)’s Simranjit Singh Mann — the House passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill and the Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill. Union home minister Amit Shah, who introduced the three code bills in the House later in the day, made his first appearance on the floor of the House after the security breach.
Among those suspended include Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor and Karti Chidambaram, Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Danish Ali, Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s S Senthilkumar, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sushil Kumar Rinku, and Trinamool Congress’s Sudip Bandhopadhyay.
Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal brought in a motion to suspend the MPs, and union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Opposition had decided to not bring placards inside the House. “Due to their desperation after losing recent elections, they are taking such steps. This is the reason we are bringing this proposal,” he said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the BJP wants a Opposition-mukt Lok Sabha. “At this point, unfortunately, we have to start writing obituaries for Parliamentary democracy in India,” Tharoor said.
His party colleague Karti Chidambaram said that he was not even holding a placard and SP’s Dimple Yadav was standing in her designated space when they were suspended. “I have no idea why I was suspended. I didn’t raise slogans or a placard. I was standing in the aisle. This has to be a technical suspension,” Chidambaram said.
While 95 Opposition MPs were absent from the House, the Lok Sabha passed two bills, with only one Opposition voice. The NCT Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill extends the protection given to unauthorised buildings for a period of three years from January 1, 2024 till December 31, 2026, while the Central GST (Amendment) Bill sought to increase the age for president of the GST appellate tribunals (GSTAT) from 67 years to 70 years, and that of the members of the GSTAT from 65 years to 67 years. Both bills were passed.
The three code bills – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam – were once again introduced in the Lok Sabha. They will replace the Code of Criminal Procedure Act 1898, the Indian Penal Code 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act 1872, respectively.