‘Suspension of democracy’: Oppn targets govt on suspension of 14 MPs from Parliament

Meanwhile in Lok Sabha, 14 MPs — Congress leaders T N Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, S Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, Hibi Eden Manickam Tagore, Benny Behanan, V K Sreekandan and Mohammad Jawed; CPM MPs P R Natarajan, S Venkatesan; DMK MPs Kanimozhi and S R Parthiban and CPI leader K Subbarayan — were suspended on Thursday. Later in the day, the Lok Sabha withdrew the suspension of DMK MP S R Parthiban after the government told Speaker Om Birla that it was a case of mistaken identity as the member was not present in the House when others disrupted its proceedings.

Here’s how the Opposition leaders reacted to the suspension:

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien observed a silent protest outside the Parliament after his suspension in Rajya Sabha. He was seen carrying a placard with ‘Silent Protest’ written on it in English, Hindi and Bengali.

The TMC party criticised the BJP-led Central government for suspending its Rajya Sabha MP and also called for the immediate resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the Parliament security breach.

The TMC also accused the government of failing to ensure the safety of the Parliament while actively suspending opposition MPs from the House. “Fifteen MPs were suspended, whereas no action was taken against the BJP MP who issued the passes to the intruders. Is this justice? The home minister must immediately resign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must come to Parliament and make a statement on the floor of the House,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Addressing the media over the suspensions, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said: “…We had just one demand that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement (over Lok Sabha security breach). This dictatorial government does not find it acceptable… This is a very serious matter… We wanted a statement from the Home Minister. Unless he comes to the House and does that, there are very slim chances for the House to function…”

“We do want discussions but the biggest issue is – how and why did this happen… PM and HM are silent. They should come to both Houses and give statements. After that the House will function,” the Congress MP added.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge termed the suspension of 15 opposition leaders as a “suspension of democracy”. “The suspension of 15 opposition MPs from the Parliament because they wanted a discussion on the grave security breach is suspension of democracy,” Kharge said in a post on X.

Claiming that the BJP is now “shooting the messenger”, Kharge asked, “What is their crime? Is it a crime to urge the Union Home Minister to make a statement in the House ? Is it a crime to want a discussion on the perilous security breach? Does it not invoke draconian shades of dictatorship, a hallmark of the present dispensation.”

In a post on X, Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said, “A horrible, undemocratic move to suspend opposition MPs for demanding an answer from the Government on the shocking security breach in Parliament yesterday.”  “This is a murder of democracy. The BJP government has reduced Parliament to a rubber stamp. Not even the pretense of a democratic process is left,” he said.

Calling the suspension a “knee-jerk reaction”, one of the suspended Congress MPs, Manickam Tagore said: “It shows the mentality of this Government. This Government’s mentality is becoming like the Hitler Raj of Germany which is not ready to hear and answer the questions of Opposition parties… INDIA Alliance will meet tomorrow morning and leaders will decide what has to be done. We are united and have a genuine demand that the Home Minister must come to the Parliament, make a statement first and then answer the queries of the Opposition…”

Reacting to the suspension, MP Danish Ali said Salem MP S R Parthiban, who has also been suspended, was not even present in the Parliament. “Such a big security breach took place. The Parliamentary Affairs minister doesn’t even know if the MP is inside the Parliament or no. How is this country running?” he said, talking to news agency ANI.

“It is shocking and this is the culture that they have developed, said Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal. Drawing a comparison to the presence of healthy discussions in Parliament earlier, he said, “The moment you oppose something – they don’t allow you to speak. If you say something, they will say nothing that you are saying is going on record. So what’s the point of being a member of Parliament and participating in our discussion. You should have a healthy discussion in the House.”

“Is it not the responsibility of the Union Home Minister to come and answer on this?” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said demanding action on the incident of security breach.

Suspension of 15 Opposition MPs, including DMK’s Kanimozhi is ‘undemocratic’, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Thursday and condemned the ‘intolerance’ of the BJP regime. Stalin, also the president of ruling DMK demanded that the government revoke its action against the MPs.

In a post on X, Stalin said: “Suspension of 15 Opposition MPs, including DMK MP Kanimozhi is undemocratic and undermines the spirit of Parliamentary democracy. The intolerant attitude of the BJP-led Union Govt is condemnable. Is crushing MPs’ freedom of expression the new norm in our Parliament?” Also, he asked: “Why are people’s representatives punished for seeking answers on a major security breach in our temple of democracy? We demand the immediate revocation of the 15 MPs’ suspension. Parliament must be a forum for debate and definitely not for silencing opposition.”

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