"Mockery of democracy": Mamata Banerjee on suspension of Opposition MPs
Dec 18, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 18 : Following the suspension of 46 opposition MPs in two days from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the Winter Session, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the BJP-led Centre is running a "mockery of democracy."
A total of forty-six Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) were suspended for the remaining part of the winter session for "misconduct" and not obeying the directions of the Chair.
"It is not that collectively they have to suspend everybody...If they think that the House is supreme, why are they afraid? If they suspend all the members, how will they raise their voice? They are passing three important bills, even the law bills. It is a very important criminal law bill. We all said that letting a new government come as elections is left out for only three to four months. Why are they taking the decision right now? Even a new government can review all this. There is a system in democracy...Who will raise the voice for the people?" the West Bengal CM said.
She further asked who would raise the voice of the people and if they would suspend all opposition from the House.
"The voices of the people have been choked. Let them suspend the House first. They have no moral right to run this House to suspend the opposition fully...They will run a mockery, nothing else. It is a mockery of democracy," she said."
A total of 45 opposition MPs were suspended from Rajya Sabha, including 11 Rajya Sabha MPs who have been referred to the Privilege Committee, for the remainder of the Session. This is in addition to 34 Opposition MPs, including Congress' Jairam Ramesh, K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala; TMC's 1. Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Santanu Sen; RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha.
Opposition members have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the breach of Parliament's security on December 13.
The MPs that have been suspended from Lok Sabha are Kalyan Banerjee (TMC), A. Raja (DMK), Dayanidhi Maran (DMK), Aparupa Poddar (TMC), Prasun Banerjee (TMC), ET Mohammed Basheer (IUML), Ganesan Selvam (DMK), CN Annadurai (DMK), Adhir Ranjan Choudhary (INC), T. Sumathy (DMK), Kani K. Navas (IUML), Kalanidhi Veeraswamy (DMK), NK Premachandran (RSP), Sougata Ray (TMC), Satabdi Roy (TMC), Asit Kumar Mal (TMC), Kaushalendra Kumar - (JDU), Anto Antony (INC), SS Palanimanickam (DMK), Pratima Mondal (TMC), Kakoli Ghosh (TMC), K Muraleedharan (INC), Sunil Mondal (TMC), Ramalingam Sellaperumal (DMK), Kodikunnel Suresh (INC), Amar Singh (INC), Rajmohan Unnithan (INC), Su. Thirunavukkarasar (INC), TR Baalu (DMK), Gaurav Gogoi (INC), Vijaykumar Vasanth (INC), Dr. K Jayakumar (INC), Abdul Khaleque (INC).
The motion for the suspension of MPs was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. When the House reassembled at 3 pm after adjournments earlier, BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, said that the members had been violating rules.
Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid continuous protests by opposition members on the issue of Parliament security breaches on December 13.
Notably, on December 14, a day after the Parliament security breach, 13 Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya Sabha MP were suspended for "unruly conduct" in Parliament.
Manickam Tagore, Kanimozhi, PR Natrajan, VK Sreekandan, Benny Bahanan, K Subramanyam, S Venkatesan, and Mohammad Jawed are among the Parliament members who were suspended from the Lok Sabha. Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien is the lone MP suspended from the Rajya Sabha.
