IT WAS AMID near empty opposition benches that the Lok Sabha on December 19 took up for debate the three crucial bills relating to revamp of the criminal jurisprudence in the country. This was in the aftermath of an unprecedented number of opposition MPs getting suspended en masse. It brought out the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the government and the opposition.
The winter session has seen the making of an undesirable record—143 MPs from the INDIA alliance have been suspended so far, many of them for the rest of the session. On December 14, a day after the security breach in Parliament, 13 Lok Sabha MPs and a Rajya Sabha MP were suspended for protesting.
The opposition wanted a statement from either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach. On December 18, 33 Lok Sabha MPs and 45 Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended, again for their protests over the security scare. This was a record for suspensions in one day. On December 19, 49 more Lok Sabha MPs were suspended and the following day, two more members from the lower house were asked to sit out. Majority of the INDIA alliance MPs are now outside Parliament.
This story is from the December 31, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the December 31, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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