14 Opposition MPs – 13 from Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha, were suspended for showing “disregard to the chair”.
Lok Sabha in New Parliament Building (Photo:IANS)
The Congress on Thursday slammed the central government over suspension of 14 Opposition MPs for raising the issue of yesterday’s Parliament security breach and questioned why no action has been taken against BJP MP Pratap Simha who got the intruders’ visitor’s passes issued.
Congress MP MD Jawaid said that had the passes been issued on behalf of any Opposition MP, he would have been arrested by now.
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“What happened in Parliament yesterday is very worrying and people of the entire country are worried. As the opposition, it is our duty that the Home Minister should come to the House and give a statement on the security lapse. But 14 of our fellow MPs were suspended.
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“If any opposition MP had done the work of giving PASS, he would have been arrested by now,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, two men jumped in the well from the visitor’s gallery in the Lok Sabha and set off smoke canisters in a major breach in Parliament’s security.
The intruders were issued passes on behalf of Mysore BJP MP Pratap Simha.
While the intruders and their associates have been booked under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), no action has been taken against the BJP MP.
The Opposition cornered the government over the issue of the security breach in both the House of Parliament and demanded Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation. They also sought an action against Simha.
The Opposition MPs entered the well of the Lok Sabha and resorted to sloganeering, following which 13 of them were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session.
The 13 MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha are – T N Prathapan, Hibi Eden, S Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, Dean Kuriakose, Benny Behanan, V K Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, P R Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subrahmanyam, S Venkatesan and Manickam Tagore.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien was also suspended from Rajya Sabha for the rest of the session for “unruly behaviour”, taking the total number of Opposition MPs suspended from both the Houses to 14.
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