As many as 78 members of Parliament, including 33 Opposition members from Lok Sabha, and at least 45 members from the Rajya Sabha were suspended on December 18. The latest round of suspension comes days after 14 MPs were suspended for raising slogans demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the Parliament security breach.
Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was among the 33 Lok Sabha members suspended today. The total number of Lok Sabha MPs under suspension in the Winter Session now stands at 46.
The 30 Lok Sabha MPs suspended by the Speaker today were: 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.
Three other Lok Sabha MPs have been suspended pending report from the Privileges Committee for “creating disorder in the House”.
On the other hand, in addition to Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha on Monday suspended 45 MPs, with 34 being suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, and 11 suspended till the Privilege Committee submits a report on them after they “continuously shouted slogans and raised placards”.
The 34 suspended Rajya Sabha 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.
The 11 Rajya Sabha MPs suspended pending the report of the Privileges Committee 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.
On his suspension from the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government had “reached heights of tyranny”.
“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... We wanted discussion...” he said.
On the suspension of himself and several Opposition MPs from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the winter session, Congress Rajya Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal said, “The House is functioning with only one purpose that is to suppress the entire voice of the opposition and to suspend maximum people, those who are raising the issues of the people and security...Now Parliament is for the suspension of the opposition MPs, not for debate and discussion.”
ASI submits Gyanvapi mosque survey report before Varanasi court in a sealed cover
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted its report on the scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque premises in Varanasi district court on December 18. The document, over a 1,000 pages, was submitted in the court in a sealed cover.
Advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, who is representing the Hindu petitioners, said, “The report in sealed cover was placed before the court by the ASI’s standing counsel Amit Srivastava.” Four senior officials of the ASI were also present in the court.
The counsel of Gyanvapi mosque asked the court to not to make the report public, whereas the Hindu side urged the court to make the report public. The court will take a call on the report on December 21.
The ASI carried out the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi premises, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. The survey was carried out on the order of a Varanasi court.
ED issues fresh summons to Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on December 21 in Delhi excise policy case
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday issued fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for recording his statement on December 21 in the Delhi excise policy case.
He was first called by the federal agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose alleging that the notice was “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law”.
The summons to Kejriwal, the national convenor of AAP, pertain to questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and for recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi Lieutenant Governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
Delhi government officials had on Saturday said that Kejriwal will leave for a 10-day Vipassana meditation course at an undisclosed location on December 19. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were earlier arrested in the excise policy case.
Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast
Decoding the Constitution Bench’s judgement on Article 370 abrogation
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
While the judgement has been hailed as a historic one, it has also raised concerns regarding the federal system, which is understood to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
So, what exactly was the judicial reasoning behind the Supreme Court judgement, and what are its larger implications, especially for other Indian states, and the federal structure?
Congress launches crowdfunding campaign, seeks help of common people to build country
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on December 18 launched the party’s crowdfunding campaign in Delhi, asking people to join the fight against unemployment and rising prices.
Kharge donated a sum of ₹1,38,000 from his salary to launch the “Donate for Desh” campaign in the presence of party leaders and general secretaries K. C. Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh and treasurer Ajay Maken.
“It is a very happy day that our party leaders have prepared an App. I feel this is the first time that the Congress is seeking the help of common people to build the country,” he told reporters after the launch.
As part of the campaign, the party will receive money from small donors, he said and added, “If you keep working by depending on the rich, then tomorrow we would have to agree to their programmes and policies”.
Kharge said the Congress is already working for the interests of the poor, Scheduled Castes, backwards and they have been helping us in the past too. “Through ‘Donate for Desh’, we will work to take the country forward by taking help from general public. The Congress always got help from general public. Mahatma Gandhi also got Independence for the country with the help of people of the country,” he said.
People will in one or two days voluntarily come forward and donate, he said.
“We will collect donation from common people and join them in this fight. We can assure people that there is only one party which is fighting for the poor,” he said.
In a post on X, the Congress said, “Beyond a campaign, it’s a commitment to champion the rights of marginalised communities, bridge disparities, and stand as a formidable opposition against a government favouring the affluent”.
“Join us in the fight against unprecedented unemployment and rising costs. Stand with the Indian National Congress as it strides beyond its 138th year, stronger and more determined than ever. Be a Changemaker, Contribute,” the party said.
Maken said anyone can contribute to the party by giving a donation of ₹138, 1,380 or 1,38,000, marking the completion of 138 years of the Indian National Congress.
EU opens proceedings against X in first probe under new rules
The European Union on Monday said it would launch an investigation of social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, over a suspected breach of obligations in its first such probe under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The DSA, which entered into force in November last year, requires very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security, and to protect their services against manipulative techniques.
The proceedings will focus on countering the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, and the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation, notably of the “community notes” system, the Commission said.
It will also focus on the measures taken by X to increase the transparency of its platform and a suspected deceptive design of the user interface such as checkmarks linked to subscription products, the so-called Blue checks.
The Commission said it will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority and continue to gather evidence by sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews and inspections. X, owned by Elon Musk, is part of a group of large tech companies facing increased scrutiny under the DSA.
Following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, EU industry chief Thierry Breton sent letters to X, Meta, TikTok and Alphabet reminding them of their obligations under the DSA to tackle harmful and illegal content.
The platforms responded promptly to Breton, highlighting steps they have taken to stop disinformation on their platforms but Musk challenged Breton over the disinformation charge. Only X received a formal request for information under the DSA and has responded to the request.
The Commission said a preliminary investigation conducted so far included an analysis of a report submitted by X in September, X’s transparency report published in November, and X’s replies to a formal request for information about illegal content in connection to Hamas’ attacks against Israel.
In Brief:
T.N. Rains | CM Stalin seeks appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a meeting with him on Tuesday (December 19, 2023) to discuss the impact of the unprecedented rainfall and floods in Chennai and its surrounding districts earlier this month and the floods wreaking havoc in the southern districts at present. A press release from the government said the Chief Minister would like to request the swift release of funds for damage caused in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts earlier this month in the wake of Cyclone Michaung.
Centre writes to States, advises them to maintain vigil amid uptick in COVID-19 cases
The Centre has issued an advisory to States in view of the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases across the country and detection of the first case of JN.1 variant in India. In a letter addressed to Health Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories, the Centre has urged them to maintain a state of constant vigil over the COVID situation. The Centre has also advised States to ensure adequate testing, including higher number of RT-PCR tests, and send positive samples for genome sequencing to INSACOG laboratories. A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 was detected from a sample of a 79-year-old woman in Kerala on December 8. Two persons from north Kerala districts also died of COVID-19, prompting the Health Department to issue an alert against the infection across the State.
Egypt’s El-Sisi sweeps to third term as President with 89.6% of vote
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has swept to a third, six-year term as Egypt’s president, winning 89.6% of votes in an election in which he faced no serious challengers, the National Election Authority announced on December 18. The election took place as as Egypt struggles with a slow-burning economic crisis and tries to manage the risk of spillover from the war in Gaza, which borders Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Some voters said the eruption of conflict in Gaza had encouraged them to vote for Sisi, who has long presented himself as a bulwark of stability in a volatile region — an argument that has also proved effective with Gulf and Western allies providing financial support to his government.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
