"Mockery of democracy": Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on suspension of MPs from Parliament
Dec 19, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 19 : Calling the slew of suspensions from the Parliament a "mockery of democracy", Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday highlighted the issues faced by the Opposition parliamentarians who have not been suspended yet and said that even after voicing their concerns, the house did not listen to them.
"I haven't seen this type of thing in 18 years. This is a mockery of democracy. Only three women are left in the Rajya Sabha in opposition. (Gala sukh gaya hai humari koi sun nahi raha hai, jo hum kehna chahte hai). Our throats have gone dry trying to voice our concerns, but no one is listening to us," Bachchan told ANI after she walked out of the RS in protest against the suspensions.
"What I don't understand is that in Sansad TV, our Chairman is shown, and if there is any other BJP leader, he will be shown or sometimes a woman but no matter what, the opposition is never shown. This is not democracy, this is a mockery of democracy," she said further.
"You sit in the chair and voice your concerns but what about our concerns? Yesterday so many of our opposition members were dismissed. What is this system of justice I want to know," the actor turned politician asked.
"The Leader of the House has said that we will see how much patience you have, the House proceedings will go on till 11 pm tonight. This has never happened in 18 years, this type of language was never used," she said.
"We have been trying to speak since morning and above all that we have been said that we were disturbing the house even though even though we were standing in our place and speaking," the MP added.
Speaking further on the walkout from the house, the MP said, "It is our right to speak. It's our right to say what we want to say and in solidarity with all our MPs who were dismissed yesterday and with this unfair judgement of not dismissing the members who were in the well today we walked out."
A total of 141 MPs, 95 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha, were suspended following a ruckus over the demand by the Opposition for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident.
Following the suspension of 141 Opposition MPs from Parliament, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP-led central government wants to "demolish democracy" as it does not want the people of India to hear the opposition and thus has adopted the policy of "suspend, throw out and bulldoze".
"The suspension of a total of 141 Opposition MPs from Parliament reinforces our charge that an autocratic BJP wants to demolish Democracy in this country," Kharge posted on X on Tuesday.
He further said that a "complete purge" is being executed to ensure the passage of "draconian bills" without any meaningful debate in the new Parliament.
Kharge further said that their simple demands about the Union Home Minister making a statement in Parliament on the grave security breach and a detailed discussion on the same, remain unaltered.
Earlier in the day, members of opposition parties held protests in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises against the suspension of MPs for the remainder of the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
Suspended opposition MPs also held protests against the government at Parliament's Makar Dwar on Tuesday.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also joined the protests.
The reason for the suspension of opposition MPs for the rest of the Winter Session was cited to be 'misconduct' and failure to adhere to the directions of the Chair.
