Unprecedented move: 78 MPs suspended from Parliament today, 92 this session

As many as 78 Members of Parliament, including 45 from Rajya Sabha and 33 from Lok Sabha, were suspended for 'disrupting proceedings' in both houses on Monday. This action against them comes days after 13 opposition members were suspended from Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha last week.

New Delhi: In an unprecedented development, as many as 78 Members of Parliament from the opposition parties were suspended from both houses for 'disrupting proceedings' on Monday.

Of the 78 MPs, 45 were suspended in Rajya Sabha shortly after 33 Members in Lok Sabha faced a similar action earlier in the day. Those suspended from Rajya Sabha included Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh, Ramgopal Yadav, and KC Venugopal. Thirty-four of the 45 suspended Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha will not be allowed to attend the remainder of the Winter session. The matter related to the conduct of the 11 remaining MPs has been referred to the Privileges Committee and their suspension will continue till the submission of the report by the committee.

Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned for the day after the suspension of 78 Members. With it, as many as 92 MPs have faced suspension this session, the highest since March 1982, when 63 MPs were suspended. Earlier, the Upper House witnessed continued ruckus and sloganeering in the day as opposition MPs, like their counterparts in Lok Sabha, continued their protest over the Parliament security breach. Rajya Sabha saw three adjournments in the day before it was adjourned for the rest of the day after the MPs were suspended.

When Rajya Sabha resumed business at 4:30 pm after a brief adjournment, members of opposition parties, including the Congress, trooped into the well and started raising slogans. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar requested all members to return to their seats and allow smooth functioning of the House. "I appeal to members to take their seats. You cannot speak (from anywhere) other than your seat," he said, adding, "It has been a disturbing day for us."

Dhankhar further said his appeal to Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to meet him in his chamber has not been heard and the members did not cooperate on the issue related to mothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir. Following it, as many as 45 MPs were suspended for the remaining session, 11 of them suspended till the Committee of Privilege submits a report on them.

With opposition members not relenting, Dhankhar said, "It is not less than a crime against Bharat. We are weaponising disruption and disturbance. This can not be allowed to happen."

Reacting to the suspensions, the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal said, "The Leader of the Opposition did not budge. Some of the respected MPs came with placards in both Houses despite it being decided that no one would come with placards. There were repeated pleas (by the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman). Lok Sabha Speaker suspended 34 members and 34 Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended till the end of this (Winter) session. The case of the other 11 MPs, who have been suspended, has been referred to the Privilege Committee as they stormed into the well. A total of 45 Rajya Sabha MPs have been suspended today. It is unfortunate... They did not want the House to run smoothly, this was their pre-planned strategy...When there is a Bill related to OBC, when there is work related to empowering women, the Congress and Communists are in pain."

The Rajya Sabha action followed the suspension of 33 opposition members, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, T R Baalu and Sougata Ray, from Lok Sabha earlier in the day for displaying placards and raising slogans over the Parliament's security breach issue. The opposition members disrupted the House's proceedings demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue.

While 30 members, including 10 from the DMK, nine from the Trinamool Congress, eight from the Congress and one each from IUML, JD(U) and RSP were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, three other Congress members were suspended pending a report of the Privileges Committee.

The 33 MPs included Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Thiru Dayanidhi Maran, Aparupa Poddar, Prasun Banerjee, E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Ganesan Selvam, C.N Annadurai, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, T. Sumathy (A) Thamizhachi Thangapandian, K Navas Kani, N K Premachandran, Satabdi Roy, Prof. Souata Ray, Kaushalendra Kumar, Anto Antony, S S Planimanickam, Pratima Mondal, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, K Muraleedharan, Sunil Kumar Mondal, Sellaperumal Ramalingam, Suresh Kodikunnil, Dr Amar Singh, Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, Vijay Vasanth, Gaurav Gogoi, Rajmohan Unnithan, Dr K Jayakumar, Dr K Veeraswamy, Ashit Kumar Mal, and Abdul Khaleque.

Last week, 13 opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha and one was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for disrupting the proceedings. The total number of suspended opposition members now stands at 92 (46 in Lok Sabha, 46 in Rajya Sabha).

Earlier in the day, the Rajya Sabha passed two Bills to extend provisions of the women's reservation law to the legislative assemblies of Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir amid a din as opposition members continued with their protest.