Opposition condemns suspension of 14 MPs from Parliament

New Delhi : Opposition MPs condemned the suspension of 13 MPs from the Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha on Thursday, saying that it is the right of every elected public representative to ask questions.

The opposition MPs were demanding a statement in the House on Prime Minister Narednra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident.

Jharkhand Minister and Congress leader Banna Gupta said that public representatives are elected by the people and sent to Parliament or Assembly to speak as per their expectations.

“It is the right of every elected public representative (to ask questions). If they have been elected by the people and sent to Parliament or Assembly, they speak as per the expectations of the people,” Gupta said.

The Jharkhand Minister said that had the miscreants who created a ruckus in the Parliament on Friday been armed many would have died.

“What happened yesterday is highly condemnable. They did not have weapons. If they had weapons, God knows how many people would have died. This is a major failure and the Government and security agencies should have a review over this. We had seen a catastrophic attack on the Parliament in 2001 which we remember even today,” Gupta said.

Condemning the violent act, Gupta said, “Unfortunately, people living in India insulted the Parliament by acting illegally there. They should be given stringent punishment.”

Janata Dal (United) MP Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said that the MPs were suspended from the House just to hide the government’s failures.

“The suspensions have been done for the government to hide its failures. They want to scare the Opposition. You can’t govern by creating fear. If Opposition MPs were demanding a statement from the Home Minister regarding yesterday’s security failure, then what was wrong with it? The Home Minister should come and make a statement…,” Ranjan Singh said.

The JD(U) leader said that while the government can suspend opposition MPs since they have they have the majority they cannot stifle their voices by instilling fear.

“They can suspend, they have the majority and can do whatever they want…You would have seen their conduct had the two men who entered the Parliament yesterday been Muslims or had it been a Congress MP who issued them passes, they would have been so alarmed. This is their way of working. You cannot stifle opposition voices by instilling fear,” Ranjan Singh said.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said that no action was taken against the MP who had given passes to the miscreants accused of Parliament security breach.

“There is an MP who has actually given the passes for these (accused of Parliament security breach) people to come in. No action has been taken against that MP. Whereas we saw what happened in Mahua’s case. Without even the inquiry being complete, she has been disqualified and this MP is not even suspended. He’s inside Parliament with us,” Kanimozhi said.

The DMK MP said that when the opposition was asking for the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for a statement in the House over Wednesday’s Parliament security breach, they suspended the MPs.

“And when we protested and we want the PM and the Home Minister to come and give a statement in the House, they’re not prepared to do that. And when we protested, they are suspending all the opposition MPs. First, they suspended five, then they suspended nine people. So how is this democracy? We were asking for a discussion, for the government to respond and when they don’t we have to disrupt the House. What choice do we have?” Kanimozhi said.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that 15 MPs were suspended just because they were demanding a statement from the Prime Minister and the Home Minister over the security breach.

“What happened yesterday was a colossal security and intelligence failure. We want the government to come and inform the House on what happened yesterday and what are the steps that they are taking.

The government is adamant about not coming, either the PM or HM should make a statement. We are demanding that. When MPs demand something, of course we protest. Just because we demanded and protested, in order to stifle our voice, about 15 odd MPs have been suspended for the remaining of the session,” Karti Chidambaram said.

The Congress MP also pointed out that the method of suspension was so random that even one of the DMK MPs who was not present in the House on Thursday was suspended.

“But there is a comedy of errors even in that. They have suspended SR Parthiban of the DMK who is not even present in the House today. This is a random manner in which they suspended people. Instead of addressing the bigger issue which is the security and intelligence failure of yesterday. This is very disappointing and we registering our protest in any manner we can,” Karti Chidambaram said.

The Congress MP added that this is a matter of security for India and hence it is fair that the Prime Minister or the Home Minister gives as statement in the House on Wednesday’s security breach.

“We want either the Prime Minister or Home Minister to come to the House and give a categorical statement about the events that happened yesterday and the remedial steps that they are going to take for the future. It think that’s fair. This is the security of the Parliament. The Parliament belongs to the people of India. So this concerns the security of India,” he said.

After five Congress Lok Sabha members were suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of winter session on Thursday, nine more opposition MPs were suspended from the House for the same period for “unruly conduct”.

Among the 13 MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha, nine are from the Congress, two from the CPM, one from the CPI, and one from the DMK. Earlier, DMK MP SR Parthiban’s name was also included by mistake among the list of MPs suspended from the Lower House. Parthiban was not present in the House on Thursday.

In the Rajya Sabha, TMC MP Derek O’Brien was suspended for the rest of the Winter Session for ‘gross misconduct’ and ‘defying the Chair’ during the proceedings on Thursday morning.