Suspension of eight Opposition MPs revoked after Parliament rapprochement

Lok Sabha revokes suspension of eight Opposition MPs after government and Opposition reach agreement to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament during the Budget session

After Treasury and Opposition leaders reached a rapprochement to ensure the smooth conduct of proceedings for the remainder of the Budget session, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday revoked, with immediate effect, the suspension of eight Opposition members. Announcing the decision, Speaker Om Birla said there should be no display of placards, posters, photographs or AI-generated images inside the House or anywhere in the Parliament complex.

 

The eight MPs had been suspended on February 3 for “unruly” behaviour for the entire Budget session, which is scheduled to conclude on April 2.

 

Congress member K Suresh had urged the Lok Sabha to revoke the suspension, saying the incidents in the House were regrettable and that his party was ready to cooperate to ensure smooth functioning. Opposition MPs also raised the conduct of some ruling party members, particularly BJP’s Nishikant Dubey. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said members of the ruling alliance would not violate rules and had never done so in the past. “A ‘Laxman Rekha’ should be drawn,” he said.

 

 

With no sittings scheduled during the upcoming public holidays, and many MPs expected to campaign in poll-bound states and skip proceedings, the government is keen to push through its pending legislative agenda in the remaining days of the session.

 

Among the measures being lined up is a Bill to amend the Women’s Reservation Act to enable its implementation before the delimitation exercise is completed. The government has reached out to Opposition parties on the issue. In a letter to Rijiju, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sought an all-party meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to discuss the “modalities and roadmap for the implementation” of the Act.

 

The Union Cabinet is yet to clear the proposed Bill. A Cabinet meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, though it is not known whether the Bill is on the agenda. Sources said it could be introduced first in the Rajya Sabha.

 

The Women’s Reservation Act was passed by Parliament in 2023. The constitutional amendment providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies is slated to take effect only after the delimitation exercise is completed.

 

In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs, in a letter to Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, sought a discussion on the functioning of either the Ministry of Commerce and Industry or the Ministry of External Affairs, citing the conflict in West Asia, its impact on India’s trade and energy security, and the trade agreements India has signed or is negotiating, including with the US.

 

According to data compiled by the Opposition, the Rajya Sabha has not discussed the functioning of either of these ministries since 2010. It also said as many as 29 ministries and departments have not come up for such discussions since then. These include chemicals and fertilisers, civil aviation, electronics and information technology, finance, mines, petroleum and natural gas, and shipping.

 

The Opposition’s letter said its signatories represent around 100 MPs. So far in the ongoing Budget session, the Rajya Sabha has discussed the ministries of environment, forests and climate change, and rural development, with three more ministries still to be selected for discussion.

 

Detailed scrutiny of ministries is a key feature of Parliament’s Budget session. In the Rajya Sabha, this takes the form of discussions on the ‘working’ of ministries, while the Lok Sabha exercises financial oversight through debates and voting on Demands for Grants, under which each ministry’s proposed expenditure for the coming financial year is examined.