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Coming down heavily at the BJP-led Centre, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule on Thursday said the bulk suspension of Opposition MPs from both Houses of Parliament represents the 'murder of democracy'.
As many as 143 Opposition members from both Houses were suspended for raising a ruckus and disrupting proceedings over their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the December 13 Parliament security breach incident. Speaking to ANI on Thursday, the suspended MP drew a parallel between the prevailing state of affairs with the National Emergency, which was imposed in the country under the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi in 1975, saying that it seems as if an undeclared Emergency has been imposed all over again. "This is a murder of democracy, an insult to the Constitution. The country is run by the Constitution, and I condemn the way (over) 140 MPs have been suspended. It seems that an Emergency has been imposed in the country," she said. Sule said that the passage of three Bills to replace the criminal laws from the colonial past -- the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita Bill, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita Bill and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill -- in the absence of 97 Opposition members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday was 'undemocratic'. "We were ready for discussion from day one. I was telling the government from day one to sit and discuss (the draft legislations) but we were suspended before that," she added. A total of 143 MPs -- 97 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha -- have been suspended for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses to press for their demand for a statement from the Union Minister over the security breach incident. Taking part in the protest march, another suspended MP, John Brittas of the CPI(M), said the Centre should now amend the Constitution to say "India is a monarchy". "We are protesting against the brutal killing of the democracy. Our democracy was massacred. You could see the Union Home Minister unilaterally (pushing through the draft criminal laws). This is an Opposition-Mukt Parliament. They (the Centre) should now amend the Constitution to say India is a monarchy," he told ANI. Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, posted on his X handle that the passage of important legislations by suspending Opposition MPs is not democracy but 'authoritarianism'. "We, the people of India need to Save Democracy. Passing important legislation by suspending Opposition MPs is not Democracy. It is the worst kind of authoritarianism. Our future generations will not forgive us, if we do not raise our voices against this dictatorship, NOW !" Kharge posted on X. (ANI)
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