Suspension of Opposition MPs will give a message of 'no nonsense Prime Minister', say BJP insiders

During the day, 49 Opposition MPs were suspended, bringing the number of barred parliamentarians to 141. BJP insiders said the suspensions would create an image of a strong government and be beneficial to the party in the elections while Opposition termed it as a conspiracy to destroy democracy, writes ETV Bharat's Rakesh Tripathi.

New Delhi: Amid the furore over suspension of Opposition MPs, BJP insiders said that the move will issue a clear message about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image being a 'no nonsense Prime Minister'.

A leader associated with BJP on condition of anonymity said that the party wants to create the image of PM Modi as a 'no-nonsense Prime Minister'. When the image of the country is being strengthened before the world, then the image of its head should also be one who takes tough decisions, he said.

Some people within the party expressed concern as to why the party was tolerating indiscipline in the Parliament. If people chose the NDA to form the government with a huge mandate in 2019, then it will be the responsibility of the government to handle such indiscipline, they said.

"Since it is the public who had selected them to form the government, it will be their fault if they are unable to work, run the Parliament and the country. The suspension decisions were taken with this in mind. It is aimed at sending a clear message that the government is ready for debate within the Parliament, but creating ruckus against the rules will no longer be tolerated," said a BJP leader.

Overall, BJP is trying to create the image of PM Modi as a strong Prime Minister for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Efforts will be made to further strengthen this image in the remaining three to four months and the message is clear that Opposition's blackmailing in the name of democracy will not be tolerated, the BJP leader added.

Notably, after the recent victory in the three heartland states, BJP's morale is high. With a few months before the Lok Sabha polls, getting a mandate higher than expectation has boosted the party's spirits. Thus, the party estimates that the suspension of the MPs will create an image of a strong government and in turn become beneficial in the upcoming elections, the BJP leader said.

However, Congress leader Tariq Anwar termed it as undemocratic and unconstitutional. He said that creating the image of a 'no nonsense Prime Minister' means that BJP is moving towards a 'one man party'. "After winning elections, these people have started thinking that they have become the uncrowned king. The suspension shows the arrogance of this government and the Prime Minister. This is clearly a conspiracy to destroy democracy.”

The 17th Lok Sabha is at its peak and only three more days are left for the winter session to conclude. After which, only the Budget session is left before the elections.

During the day, Parliament witnessed heated protests after 49 Lok Sabha MPs were suspended for disrupting proceedings taking the total number of barred parliamentarians to 141.

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