Suspension of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs revoked ahead of interim Budget Session

A day before the beginning of this government’s last budget session before elections, the suspension of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs was revoked on Tuesday. The Opposition MPs had been suspended in December 2023 during the Winter Session for demanding a statement by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament.

“All (suspensions) will be revoked. I have spoken with both Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman and have also requested them on behalf of the government,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, ahead of the all-party meeting ahead of the Budget session. According to reports, during the all-party meeting, the Centre assured the leaders of various political parties that they were ready to discuss every issue.

The upcoming Budget session will occur between 31 January and 9 February, with the Finance Minister set to present the interim budget ahead of the General elections.

146 MPs - including members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha - were suspended last month, and 132 MPs were arrested for the remainder of the session. When the session ended, their suspension was revoked.

The case for the remaining 14 MPs - 11 from Rajya Sabha and three from Lok Sabha - was referred to the privileges committees of both the Houses. While the Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha lifted the suspension of 3 Lok Sabha MPs on 12 January, the suspension of eleven Rajya Sabha MPs was only revoked on Tuesday.

The Opposition had alleged that the suspension of MPs was the government’s ploy to pass key bills without any discussion. However, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had insisted that security within the House was under the secretariat’s purview and he would not let the Centre intervene.

During the Winter Session, two people had jumped in to the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour and thrown yellow-coloured smoke canisters, and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the MPs. Their accomplices had staged a similar protest outside Parliament.