In an unprecedented move, 78 Members of Parliament (MPs), comprising both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, have been suspended for staging protests demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the recent security breach in Parliament. This adds to the 14 MPs suspended last week for the same reason, bringing the total number of suspensions in this session to 92. In Lok Sabha, 30 MPs have been suspended for the remainder of the session, with three suspended until the privileges committee submits a report on their conduct. In Rajya Sabha, 35 members are suspended for the rest of the session, and 11 until a report by the privileges panel. The suspended MPs include prominent figures such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Kalyan Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Saugata Ray, Satabdi Roy, A Raja, and Dayanidhi Maran. The suspended Rajya Sabha MPs include Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kanimozhi, and Manoj Kumar Jha.
The suspended MPs protested the government’s refusal to address their demand for a statement from the Home Minister regarding the security breach. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticized the government’s dictatorial behavior, accusing it of treating Parliament like a party office. Gaurav Gogoi accused the BJP government of bulldozing the Opposition and claimed that the Home Minister is avoiding responsibility for the security breach. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressed concern that with an Opposition-less Parliament, the government could push through legislation without debate.
The chaos in Rajya Sabha prompted Vice-President and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to comment that many members were deliberately ignoring the bench, leading to the disruption of the House. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh highlighted the Opposition’s protest as a response to the government’s refusal to acknowledge their demand for a statement by the Home Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first remarks on the security breach, called it “very serious” and emphasized the need for a detailed investigation. However, the Opposition insists on a statement from the Home Minister. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla maintained that the Centre cannot intervene in the security matters of the Lok Sabha secretariat. The security breach involved intruders jumping from desk to desk and deploying colored smoke canisters to draw attention to issues like Manipur violence, unemployment, and farmers’ problems.