LOP Ranjan, 29 Oppn MPs suspended from LS on protests over security breach

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday suspended 30 members of Parliament (MP)s of the Opposition for the remainder of the Winter Session. The action was taken as the MPs protested inside the House, demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Lok Sabha security breach. The suspended members include the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the party in the House. Trinamool MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Saugata Ray and Satabdi Roy, and DMK members A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran are also on the list of suspended MPs.

The fresh action comes only days after 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress, were suspended for displaying placards and unruly behaviour.

A united Opposition has been demanding statements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah since Wednesday last week, prompting successive adjournments.

In an interview on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi stated that an investigation into the incident, rather than a debate in Parliament, was required.
In response to his remark, the Congress accused him of avoiding a debate on the subject as the BJP wanted to protect its MP Pratap Simha, whose office issued entry cards to the two intruders who caused a commotion inside the Lok Sabha.

"The Prime Minister has finally broken his silence on the extraordinary events in the Lok Sabha on December 13th. He says a probe is needed and not debate and that such a probe is on. All that INDIA parties are asking for and will continue to press for is a statement by the Home Minister on what happened on December 13th and how exactly it happened," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

"The PM is running away from a debate for a very simple reason. Questions will be raised on the role of the Mysuru BJP MP Pratap Simha in facilitating the entry of the intruders into the Lok Sabha on December 13th," he added.

Two men had jumped into the chamber of the House from the visitors' gallery and caused commotion with their smoke canisters. The members of the Parliament later overpowered them. So far, Delhi Police have arrested six persons — Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Amol Shinde, Neelam Devi, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat — for their alleged involvement in the Parliament security breach case. They have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.