On a tumultuous day in Parliament, as many as 14 Opposition MPs were suspended on Thursday amid protests over the Wednesday security breach in the Lok Sabha. The MPs were suspended for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session which is scheduled to end on December 22.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien was the only one suspended from Rajya Sabha, while 13 others, including nine from the Congress and the DMK’s Kanimozhi, were among those who were suspended from the Lok Sabha. DMK’s S.R. Parthiban was also initially suspended, but the government withdrew his name after the Congress’s Karti Chidambaram and the BSP’s Danish Ali pointed out that the DMK MP was not even present in the House on Thursday and was away in Chennai.
TMC criticised Mr. O’Brien’s suspension and called for Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation over the security breach. The Rajya Sabha moved a resolution to recommend Mr. O’Brien’s case to the Privileges Committee.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, called the security breach “unparalleled” and urged Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to allow a discussion on it. “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?” Mr. Kharge wrote on ‘X’.
Sources have claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a meeting with some ministers in the Parliament complex, advised his colleagues to not engage in any political squabbling with Opposition leaders over the security breach, news agency PTI reported.
The Delhi Police invoked sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an anti-terror law, against four persons accused in the security breach case, as well as sections of the Indian Penal Code related to criminal conspiracy, trespass, provoking a riot, and obstructing a public servant in the discharge of functions.
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The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to set up a tribal university in which State?
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