NEW DELHI: India’s opposition parties said 92 of their lawmakers have been suspended for demanding a discussion on last week’s security breach in the parliament complex.
Two men caused a commotion in the lower house on Dec 13 after they jumped into the chamber from the visitors’ gallery and released coloured smoke from hand-held canisters.
Members of the multi-party opposition alliance have been demanding a debate in parliament over the issue.
The home minister should make a statement in the lower and upper houses of parliament -- the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha -- “on the inexcusable breach” in security, Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday.
He said “all democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin” as scores of opposition members of parliament have been suspended.
T. R. Baalu, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member, said the suspension of such a large number of MPs was unprecedented.
As many as 33 members from the lower house and 45 from the upper house were suspended for causing uproar on Monday, while 14 were suspended last week. The two parliament intruders were given visitor passes on the recommendation of a lawmaker belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). -Bernama
