78 MPs suspended; Opposition says govt. action ‘autocratic’

Opposition parties on Monday described the suspension of 92 MPs from Parliament in less than a week as a “mockery of democracy”, as they slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre for allegedly violating democratic norms and trying to “bulldoze” important legislation through the House without any debate.

While the Congress alleged an “extreme level of dictatorship” by the government, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the Centre of trying to suppress the voice of the people.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) also criticised the mass suspensions, saying nothing like this has ever happened in the history of Parliament.

The Union government, however, defended its actions and accused the Opposition of “embarrassing” the country with their conduct in Parliament.

In a move that has no precedence, 78 Opposition MPs were suspended from the remaining part of the Winter session earlier in the day after they refused to budge on their demand for a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach last week. While 33 members were suspended from the Lok Sabha, 45 were suspended from the Rajya Sabha.