Following the suspension of opposition MPs from the Parliament on Thursday, the suspension of DMK MP S R Parthiban from the Lok Sabha has been withdrawn as he was not present in the House today.
The government clarified that the DMK MP’s name was declared as suspended, by mistake. With this, the total number of MPs suspended for the remaining winter session of Parliament is 14 — 13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.
SR Parthiban represents Tamil Nadu’s Salem constituency in the Lok Sabha.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that Parthiban’s name has been withdrawn from the list of the Lok Sabha members suspended. He further clarified that there was a mistake on the part of the staff in identifying the member.
“I have requested the speaker to drop the name of the member as it was a case of mistaken identity,” he added.
Joshi also said that the speaker agreed to the suggestion.
Several opposition MPs claimed later that Parthiban was named among the suspended MPs even though he is not present in Delhi and is in Chennai.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said there is comedy in this suspension as S R Parthiben, who has been named in the list, was not even in the Lok Sabha today.
There is comedy in this suspension, S R Parthiben has been named in the list, he wasn’t even in the LS today. I guess they can’t make out one Tamilan from another:) https://t.co/ZtakkxLRGX— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) December 14, 2023
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said it is an “unimaginable stupidity”.
Unimaginable stupidity.It’s truly a circus! https://t.co/BDthXomfgI
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) December 14, 2023
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that when the business of the House had shifted to the new Parliament building, the speaker had proposed at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) that the members have to work with a fresh resolve of not showing placards in the House.
“This proposal was unanimously agreed to. Nobody had opposed it,” he added.
By bringing placards to the House, 13 MPs violated the decision taken at the BAC meeting and hence, they were suspended, the minister said.
Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha MPs were suspended on the grounds of disrupting House proceedings.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien was also suspended from the Rajya Sabha.
The Lok Sabha security breach incident snowballed into a major row on Thursday with the government asking the opposition not to “politicise” the “grave national issue” and the Congress, TMC and others demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
Amid opposition protests, demanding a statement from Home Minister Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the security breach incident, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved two resolutions separately for the suspension of the MPs for disrupting the Lok Sabha proceedings.
The MPs had moved into the well of the Lok Sabha raising slogans, questioning the security breach, and demanding a statement from the government.
(with PTI inputs)
