As many as 14 Members of Parliament, including one from Rajya Sabha and 13 from the Lok Sabha, were suspended for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament for disrupting House proceedings. Among the 14 suspended from Lok Sabha are 9 MPs from the Congress, 2 from CPI(M), and one each from DMK, CPI and the Trinamool Congress.

The Lok Sabha initially passed a resolution suspending five Congress MPs, namely TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Jothi Mani, and Ramya Haridas, for the remainder of the Winter Session, citing their “utter disregard for the chair’s directions.”

Subsequently, nine more MPs from Opposition parties faced suspension. These include Benny Behanan, VK Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, PR Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subrahmanyam, S Venkatesan, and Manickam Tagore. SR Partibhan, DMK MP from Salem, was also named among those suspended. However, his name was later dropped by the Speaker as he was not present in the House.

#WATCH | Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi says, “A total of 13 MPs have been suspended from the Lok Sabha. An MP who was not present at the well was also suspended… We requested the Lok Sabha Speaker to drop that name and the Speaker accepted this.” pic.twitter.com/v5SXqjAoTL

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2023

The resolution stated, “I move the following that this House having taken misconduct of TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas and Dean Kuriakose Kuryakus in utter disregard to the House and the authority of this Chair and having been named by the chair…to be suspended from the service of the House for reminder session.”

Also Read: TMC’s Derek O’Brien suspended over ‘gross misconduct’ for remaining Winter Session

The move came hours after TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien was suspended for “unruly conduct” in the Upper House. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar warned O’Brien, who refused to leave the House, leading to his suspension for the rest of the session after a motion by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal.

Suspended TMC MP Derek O’Brien continues to be present in the Rajya Sabha despite Chairman’s direction to leave the House”It is most unfortunate that suspended member Derek O’Brien continues to be present in the House. His conduct has handicapped the House from transacting… pic.twitter.com/gnHr0Dfe3P

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2023

The suspensions came as Opposition members, as part of a coordinated strategy, ramped up the offensive against the Centre over the security breach in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Opposition parties on Thursday disrupted proceedings in both houses of Parliament demanding that Union Home Minister issue a detailed statement on the matter in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

“If MPs don’t raise their voice, what is the point? Two people, who came through a BJP MP, breached the security of the temple of democracy. Whether it was a smoke bomb or a color bomb… a bomb reached the House,” Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said and urged the RS Chairman to reconsider his decision.

Besides holding the government responsible for the security breach and demanding a statement from the Home Minister, Opposition parties have also demanded action against BJP MP Pratap Simha, through whose recommendation the duo obtained an access pass to the Lok Sabha.