Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Tuesday said the government perhaps wants opposition members to behave like BJP lawmakers Ramesh Bidhuri and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh -- both of whom are facing allegations of misconduct -- as 14 opposition MPs continue to remain suspended from Parliament.
A hundred opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha were suspended during the recent Winter session of Parliament after they held protests in the two Houses to demand a discussion and a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach.
In a post on X, O'Brien -- who was among the MPs to be suspended -- took a jibe at the government and mentioned Bidhuri, accused of using a communal slur in the Lok Sabha, and Singh, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment by six women wrestlers. The accusation against Bidhuri is being looked into by a privileges committee.
"Two impeccably well-behaved Members of Parliament continue to grace the Lok Sabha -- Ramesh Bidhuri and Brij Bhushan Singh. Maybe the Modi government wants all of us in the opposition to behave like them to avoid suspension from Parliament," O'Brien -- the Trinamool Congress' leader in the Rajya Sabha -- said in the post. While most of the opposition MPs were suspended for the Winter session and their suspensions revoked when it was prorogued on December 29, 14 members -- 11 from the Rajya Sabha and three from the Lok Sabha -- remain suspended, pending a report from a privileges committee.
The MPs that remain suspended from the Lok Sabha are K Jayakumar, Abdul Khaleque and Vijay Kumar. The Rajya Sabha members who are continuing to serve their suspensions are Jebi Mather, L Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, GC Chandrasekhar, Binoy Viswam, Sandosh Kumar, Mohamad Abdulla, John Brittas and AA Rahim. These MPs' participation in the upcoming Budget session remains uncertain due to the suspension.
