19 December,2023 07:55 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondent
Prithviraj Chavan. File Pic
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said that the suspension of Opposition MPs was an unprecedented event, and alleged that the Union government wanted to carry out its agenda without any discussion, reported the PTI.
Speaking to the reporters at the Maharashtra legislature complex in Nagpur, Prithviraj Chavan said that it was very shameful that democracy was being destroyed in this way, as per the PTI.
"Never in our history members of parliament were suspended in such big numbers. It is obvious that the government wants to run its agenda without any discussion and debate. They are paving the way so that there is no protest. The country is moving towards dictatorship," Prithviraj Chavan said, according to the PTI.
Political parties alone would not be able to stop this unless the people also joined in the fight, Prithviraj Chavan added, the news agency reported.
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Another Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan said Indian democracy was in danger as suspensions on this scale had never happened.
Meanwhile, as many as 49 Lok Sabha MPs were suspended from the House for disrupting the proceedings on Tuesday, a day after 78 opposition members were suspended.
A "complete purge" is being executed to ensure the passage of "draconian bills" without any meaningful debate in the new Parliament, the Congress claimed on Tuesday, dubbing it as "Namocracy in all its tyranny", the PTI reported.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government wants to demolish democracy. It does not want the people of India to hear the opposition and thus, has adopted the policy of "suspend, throw out and bulldoze".
"The suspension of a total of 141 Opposition MPs from Parliament reinforces our charge that an autocratic BJP wants to demolish Democracy in this country. We all know that key Bills like the Criminal Law Amendments, which unleash draconian powers and impede citizen's Rights, are listed," he said in a post on 'X'.
"Modi Govt does not want the people of India to hear out the Opposition, while these Bills are debated and deliberated. Therefore, they have adopted this
"Suspend, Throw Out and Bulldoze" tactic to destroy Democracy," Kharge said.
"Our simple demands about the Union Home Minister making a statement in Parliament on the grave security breach and a detailed discussion on the same, remain unaltered," he added.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said this was being done so that the BJP MP "who facilitated the entry of the two intruders" into the Lok Sabha on December 13 goes scot-free.
Ramesh underlined the suspension of the Lok Sabha MPs on Tuesday to allege that "a complete purge is being executed so that draconian bills are passed without any meaningful debate, and so that the BJP MP who facilitated entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha on December 13th goes scot-free".
"Today at least 50 more INDIA MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha alone! A complete purge is being executed so that draconian Bills are passed without any meaningful debate, and so that the BJP MP who facilitated entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha on December 13th goes scot-free," Ramesh said in a post on 'X'.
(with PTI inputs)
