INDIA parties likely to boycott Winter Session of Parliament: Sources

Opposition alliance INDIA. (photo: IANS)


The Opposition’s INDIA bloc parties are likely to boycott the remainder of the Parliament Winter Session after their 92 MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for demanding Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in the house, according to sources.

However, a final decision in this regard will be taken during the INDIA bloc’s meeting on Tuesday, the sources, cited by news agency ANI, said.

In an unprecedented move, 78 MPs, all from the Opposition, were suspended from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today for demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 incident of security breach in Parliament.

The Opposition MPs went to the Well of the House and shouted slogans, demanding Amit Shah’s clarification and a detailed report on the security breach incident.

Last week, 14 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Parliament for raising the same demand.

In Lok Sabha, while 30 MPs have been suspended for the rest of the session, thre will remain suspended till the privileges committee report on their conduct.

The suspended Lok Sabha MPs included Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress party’s leader in the Lower House and his deputy Gaurav Gogoi.

In Rajya Sabha, 35 Opposition MPs have been suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, while 11 have been suspended till the privileges committee report comes out.

The INDIA parties have termed the suspension of their MPs “an apex of dictatorship” and equated the move with the “suspension of parliamentary democracy” in the country.

The fourth meeting of the top leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties will be held in Delhi tomorrow.

In the meeting which is scheduled to take place at 3:00 pm at a hotel in the city, the Opposition leaders are likely to discuss the seat sharing arrangement for the general elections with an aim to defeat the BJP-led NDA.