Parliament Security Breach: 78 MPs From Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha Suspended; Congress Terms It Dictatorship

A total of 78 opposition MPs including 45 from the Rajya Sabha and 33 from the Lok Sabha including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and KC Venugopal were suspended from Parliament for the remaining winter session today for 'unruly behaviour' in Parliament. Of these, the suspension case of 11 MPs was sent to the Privileges Committee and they will remain suspended till the report comes. With this, a total of 92 MPs have been suspended from Parliament for the remaining winter session.  Earlier, 14 opposition MPs-- 13 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha were suspended. 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.

Parliament continued to witness ruckus amid opposition protest demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Parliament security breach.  Reacting to his suspension, Chowdhury said, "All leaders, including me, have been suspended. We have been demanding for days to reinstate our MPs who were suspended earlier and that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement. He gives statements to the TV every day and he can speak a little in the Parliament too regarding what is being done by the Government for the security of the Parliament...Today's Government has reached the heights of tyranny."

Congress MP Abdul Khaliq said that the opposition only sought an answer from the government regarding the security breach incident. "We had only asked when the Home Minister would come to the House and give a statement on this and we've been suspended for asking these questions. No action has been taken against BJP MPs Pratap Simha and Ramesh Bidhuri. This is the murder of democracy. We will continue to raise our voice," he said.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the suspension was caused by to opposition's indecent behaviour. "The opposition is feeling insecure because they have no agenda or issue against PM Modi's government and they are not letting the House function. So the Speaker has suspended them and we have supported it," he said.

Both the Houses-- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha-- continued to witness a ruckus by the Opposition members over the December 13 incident with the parties demanding Shah to come to Parliament and tell about the security lapse in the 'safest building' of the country.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "Union Home Minister Amit Shah is afraid of speaking inside Parliament and that is why he is commenting on it in media....It is a blot on the record of the Home Minister that under his watch this temple of democracy was attacked and he can't avoid scrutiny forever."

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed his anguish at the "politicisation" of the issue.