Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the government was not wanting for the Opposition MPs to get suspended, adding that it was their members themselves who came with requests for suspension after action was taken against some of their colleagues.
At a press conference in Delhi, Pralhad Joshi said the opposition was free to move court against the three new criminal laws if they felt something was wrong with the draft legislations approved by both the Houses of Parliament.
"We did not want to suspend MPs, we requested them. But after we suspended a few MPs, several of their colleagues came with requests to us seeking suspension. This is the level the Congress stoops to," Joshi said.
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Joshi said the government's floor managers had told the opposition MPs that action was taken against those indulging in indiscipline by bringing placards to the House.
The never-seen-before suspension of MPs has been a massive faceoff issue between Opposition and the BJP-led NDA this Parliament Winter Session where 146 opposition MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been sacked amid their protest demanding a statement by Home Minister over the December 13 security breach incident.
On December 13, two intruders jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the members of Parliament.
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'...They Wanted Us To Suspend Them'
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said Opposition members told that they would also "indulge in "indiscipline" and wanted to get suspended.
At the outset, Joshi said the Winter Session which concluded on Thursday, was by and large the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha as the Budget Session would approve the Vote on Account and was unlikely to transact any legislative business.
Joshi said the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha was historic as it saw the reading down of Article 370 with regard to Jammu and Kashmir and the just concluded Winter Session witnessed the shedding of the vestiges of the British-raj from the criminal justice laws.
Slamming Rahul Gandhi, Joshi said the former Congress chief was "enjoying" and videographing the action of a fellow Lok Sabha member mocking a Constitutional authority.
Joshi was referring to TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's mimicry of Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar which Rahul Gandhi was seen filming.
(With PTI inputs)
