SRINAGAR: As many as 49 Opposition members of the Lok Sabha, including Supriya Sule, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Farooq Abdullah, have been named and suspended in the Winter session of the Parliament on December 19, bringing the total barred lawmakers to 141.
The dissent stems from last week’s security breach, with the opposition accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of undermining democracy, suspending a record 78 MPs in a single day.
Most of the suspensions extend through the remaining winter session, concluding on Friday.
The INDIA alliance, a coalition opposing Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sees 95 of its 142 Lok Sabha members and 46 of its 101 Rajya Sabha members suspended.
The BJP contends that opposition leaders intentionally disrupted parliamentary proceedings.
The turmoil is linked to a recent security breach where intruders unleashed coloured gas and slogans in parliament, leading to six arrests. The opposition demands a parliamentary discussion on the lapse, while Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah face accusations of sidestepping accountability.
The government, in turn, alleges a premeditated opposition strategy to derail parliament’s functioning and obstruct vital bills.
