Parliament Winter Session Day 11 updates | 78 Opposition MPs suspended, both Houses adjourned for the day

The Upper House has been adjourned after 45 more MPs were suspended, with 34 being suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, while 11 more were suspended till the Privilege Committee submits a report on them after they “continuously shouted slogans and raised placards”. 

11 more Rajya Sabha MPs suspended till the Committee of Privileges investigates and submits report on them after they “continuously shouted slogans and raised placards.”

The Committee gets a period of three months to submit its investigation report. 

The suspended Members are: Jebi Mather, L. Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, G.C. Chandrashekhar, Binoy Viswam, P. Santhosh Kumar, M.M. Abdulla, John Brittas and A.A. Rahim.

34 more Rajya Sabha MPs have been suspended through the voice vote for the rest of the Winter Session. 

The suspended MPs are: Promod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, Amee Yajnik, Narayanbhai J. Rathwa, Anil Prasad Hegde, Vandana Chavan, Ramgopal Yadav, Javed Ali Khan, Mahua Maji, Jose K. Mani, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Syed Nasir Hussain, Phulo Devi Netam, Shakti Singh Gohil, K.C. Venugopal, Rajni Ashokrao Patil, Ranjeet Ranjan, Imran Pratapgarhi, R.S. Surjewala, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Md. Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Santanu Sen, Mausam Noor, Prakash Chik Baraik, Samirul Islam, M. Shanmugam, N.R. Elango, Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu, R. Girirajan, Manoj Jha, Faiyaz Ahmad, V. Sivadasan, and Ramnath Thakur

Proceedings have resumed in the Rajya Sabha. Opposition members asks Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar to allow the Leader of the Opposition to speak. “It has been a painful day,” Mr. Dhankar said requesting the Opposition MPs to take their seat. 

“How can I lend my ears to the LoP when he has refused to speak to me in my chamber,” Mr. Dhankar says. 

“The Opposition behaved indecently today. They are 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.”

“The entire country can see the bulldozers that are being run in the Parliament. This is nothing but a way to suppress the Opposition leaders. They are running a bulldozer over the Opposition to hide the failures of Union Home Minister Amit Shah...They have not come to power with a motive to run the Parliament.” 

Shortly after the proceedings in Rajya Sabha resumed at 4 p.m., chaotic scenes unfolded in the Upper House again, leading to a adjournment. The House will resume again at 4.30 p.m.

“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 on the television every day, 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...We wanted a discussion...”

While 30 of them were suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, three were suspended pending the report of the Privileges Committee.

The House will reconvene on Tuesday, December 19, at 11 a.m.

Mr. Joshi proposes that Kalyan Banerjee, A. Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, E.T. Mohammed Basheer, G. Selvam, C.N. Annadurai, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dr. T. Sumathy, K. Navaskani, Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, N.K. Premachandran, Saugata Roy, Satabdi Roy, Asit Kumar Mal, Kaushalendra Kumar, Anto Antony, S.S. Palanimanickam, Thirunavukkarasar, Pratima Mondal, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, K. Muraleedharan, Sunil Kumar Mondal, S. Ramalingam, K. Suresh, Amar Singh, Rajmohan Unnithan, Gaurav Gogoi, and T.R. Baalu be suspended from the House for “utter disregard to the House and the authority of the Chair”. 

Mr. Joshi also adds that the mentioned MPs be suspended from the House under Rule 374(2). 

Three more MPs -- K. Jeyakumar, Vijay Vasanth, and Abdul Khaleque -- have been suspended pending report from the Privileges Committee for “creating disorder in the House”.

Following the passage of the Post Office Bill, 2023, the house was adjourned for 10 mins till 3 p.m. amid continued protests by members from the Opposition benches. 

Following the third unscheduled adjournment, the house reconvenes to vote on the Post Office Bill, 2023. Opposition continues its protest. 

The third unscheduled adjournment on Monday has the lower house being adjourned for 15 mins till 2:45 p.m. This was citing continued protests by members from the Opposition benches. 

This was after Minister of Telecommunications Devusinh Chauhan’s response to the debate on the Telecommunications Bill, 2023. With members from the Opposition continuing to protest, officiating chair Rajendra Agrawal said the members should have instead participated in the discussion about the bill. This happened as he moved to adjourn the house temporarily. 

After the Upper House passed both Bills, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the Opposition leaders’ protest was an insult to the democratic process. “The security breach incident is a matter of collective concern... Incidents of such nature have occurred in the past,” he said. 

Mr. Dhankhar added that a high-level enquiry committee has been constituted, which will investigate the security breach and come up with recommendations to ensure the incident is not repeated. Their findings will be presented in the Lok Sabha in due course.

Rajya Sabha was adjourned, for the third time, till 4 p.m.

MoS for Telecommunications Devusinh Chauhan emphasised that the government has premised its functioning around “reform, perform and transform”. He stated the idea is to ensure “minimum govt, maximum governance” by utilising technology. According to him, the bill reflects and acts on the aspirations of India’s contemporary generation. 

Mr Chauhan, enumerating the work done by government, informed that the postal office has issued 10 crore Aadhar cards and have been processing direct benefit transfers to 28 crore beneficiaries. 

The Bill moved by MoS Nityanand Rai was passed by a voice vote amid Opposition parties’ loud sloganeering. 

The Upper House blazes past discussions on the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2023, with BJP leaders supporting the proposed reservation for uplifting women across the region.

Opposition MPs’ objections punctuate the backdrop of these discussions, as they insist on demands to get a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Parliament security breach.

The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to reserve 33% of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry Assemblies for women. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. 

Both legislations have already been passed in Lok Sabha last week.

Rajya Sabha resumes proceedings with discussions on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Government of Union and Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

The Opposition leaders continued with their protests, with “Jawaab do, jawaab do” reverberating across the House.

Notwithstanding continued protests by opposition members, the lower house has taken up for consideration and passing the Post Office Bill, 2023. The Bill seeks to replace the Indian Post Office Act (1898) in light of the changing role of post offices where its “network has become a vehicle for delivery of a variety of citizen-centric services”, the government had said earlier.

The Minister, moving the Bill, said the legislation aims to make post offices as service centres, which can also provide banking facilities.

After two unscheduled adjournments in the early hours on Monday, the house reconvenes. Member Rajendra Agrawal is officiating as the chair. 

Prior to the unscheduled adjournment, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw introduced the Telecommuncations Bill, 2023. 

BSP MP Ritesh Pandey opposed the introduction. He urged that the bill be brought as a regular bill. He pointed to the usage of Section 177 of the Constitution, under which it is being proposed as a money bill, which would serve to keep it out of Rajya Sabha’s scrutiny. 

Furthermore, he also held, “The Bill has to be reviewed under the Puttaswamy judgement (of the Supreme Court) to see if it harms privacy rights. This Bill brings scrutiny to end-to-end encryption and protected communications may now be leaked. This is wrong, and constitutionally it should be sent to Committee.” 

With the opposition continuing their protests seeking a statement from the Home Minister, officiating chair Rajendra Agrawal sought the house be adjourned till 2 p.m. Before the announcement, he made an unsuccessful request to the protesting members, also stating that storming into the well house may call for action. 

Member Rajendra Agrawal is presiding as the chair. He informed that Speaker Om Birla has not accepted any adjournment motion. 

Members from the Opposition continue to press for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah. Members in Treasury are laying papers for consideration on the table of the house. 

The Upper House, after briefly resuming proceedings, was adjourned till 2 p.m. It functioned for four minutes as the Opposition protests continued.

Before adjournment, BJP’s Kanta Kardam raised the issue of the recent assault and stripping of a tribal woman in Karnataka’s Belgavi district.

Following an unsuccessful appeal to protesting members of the opposition benches, seeking a statement from the Home Minister on the December 13 security incident, the house was adjourned till noon. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Speaker Om Birla expressed their displeasure about members carrying placards into the chamber of the house. “With folded hands, I would urge members from the opposition to withdraw the placards,” he stated, as he emphasised the importance of the session, pending bills and the fact that Mr Birla had extended a plea for cooperation in his letter to members. 

Earlier, Mr Birla had appealed to allow normal functioning of the House as important bills were listed for discussion and passage. By this time, Opposition members were on their feet and started moving towards the well, shouting slogans. They were also carrying placards. As MPs continued protesting, Mr Birla told them he won’t start proceedings until they take out the placards. 

Rajya Sabha adjourned for twenty minutes, to meet again at 11:30 a.m. amidst protests from the Opposition. 

Opposition leaders had moved 22 notices under Rule 267, which requires the suspension of other businesses to discuss the proposed issue, on the security breach. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected the notices saying they did not “merit admittance”.

“I have seen members committing grave kind of misconduct,” Mr. Dhankhar said, while adjourning the House.

Mr Birla, reflecting on the security incident on December 13, thanking members for the suggestions given to enhance security informed an investigation is underway and a high-powered committee has been formed to advise on how to prevent similar incidents in the future. He also indicated his disapproval of carrying placards into the well of the house. 

Mr Birla had previously stated that the house had stood together when such similar incidents took place in the past. Mr Birla asked members to work for the welfare of the people. He also asked members to not engage in individual politics. 

Proceedings commence in the Upper House. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar pays condolences over the death of Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

India announced a one-day state mourning on December 17 as a mark of respect.

Speaker Om Birla inaugurates the day reading out obituary reference for Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. He said India and the Indian community in Kuwait mourns the demise of the leader. 

Opposition MPs have given notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, seeking a discussion on the recent breach in Parliament security on Monday. 

Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari has given an Adjournment Motion notice to discuss the Parliament security breach incident. DMK MP T. Siva has moved a Suspension of Business notice in Rajya Sabha to discuss the December 13 incident.

ANI

1. Ministers to lay papers on the table

2. Ministers to make statements regarding various matters

3. Question Hour

4. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Government of UnionTerritories (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2023, The Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2023, to be moved