Pralhad Joshi accuses opposition MPs of "insulting" PM Modi, says they are frustrated over loss in assembly polls

Speaking in the Lok Sabha amid vociferous protests by opposition members following suspension of 33 members from the House on Monday for the remainder of the winter session, Joshi said "people taught the opposition a lesson" in the recent assembly polls.

"The people have conveyed their acceptance of leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The disappointment is clear on their faces and that is why they are behaving in this way. Insulting the Prime Minister by wearing mask is very bad. The entire House condemns it. I request that action should be taken," he said in a post on X, attaching a video of his remarks in the Lok Sabha.

BJP won polls in three of the five states that faced elections in November.

In his remarks in the House, Joshi alleged that opposition members had brought a "morphed photo" of PM Modi. "I strongly condemn this," he said.

Forty-nine opposition MPs, including Farooq Abdullah, Supriya Sule, Dimple Yadav and Shashi Tharoor, were later suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the winter session, a day after 33 MPs were suspended from the House for "misconduct".

Those suspended included Congress MPs V Vaithilingam, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Adoor Prakash, Manish Tewari, Pradyut Bordoloi, Geeta Koda, Francisco Sardinha, Jyotsna Mahant, Shashi Tharoor, Karti Chidambaram, Ravneet Singh Bittu, K Sudhakaran, Mohd Sadiq, MK Vishnu Prasad and Pratibha Singh; JDU's Giridhari Yadav, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Santosh Kumar, Dulal Chandra Goswami, Chandeshwar Prasad, Alok Kumar Suman, Dileshwar Kamait; National Conference's Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi; DMK's S Jagathrakshakan, SR Parthiban, A Ganeshamurthi, P. Velusamy, Senthil Kumar, M Dhanush Kumar; NCP's Supriya Sule, Amol Kolhe, and PP Mohd Faizal; Sushil Kumar Rinku of AAP; SP's Dimple Yadav and ST Hasan, VCK's T Thirumavalavan and suspended BSP MP Danish Ali.

The action came after the House faced adjournments, with opposition members raising slogans and displaying placards over their demands. The oppositoin members have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the Parliament security breach on December 13.

With 49 Lok Sabha MPs suspended, the total number of opposition parliamentarians suspended from the two Houses has gone up to 141. With suspensions on Wednesday, the number of those who have been barred from entering Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers till the conclusion of the winter session stood at 92. The winter session will conclude on December 22.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal brought the motion to suspend the members.

BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, asked the government to move the motion for suspension of MPs.

A total of 78 MPs -- 33 from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha -- were suspended for the remainder of winter session on Monday, following a ruckus over the demand by the opposition parties for a statement from Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident. (ANI)