India, Aug. 9 -- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday recalled how an unprecedented number of 146 MPs were suspended during the 2023 Winter Session of Parliament and multiple significant laws were passed in the presence of minimal Opposition, as he asserted that "history should not repeat itself". The remarks assume significance as they come just before the final week of the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament during which key laws, including the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, are likely to be taken up. "On December 13, 2023, when the Winter Session of Parliament was going on, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha from the Visitors Gallery, shouting slogans and releasing yellow smoke from canisters," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"Simultaneously two others set off coloured smoke canisters outside. It was a shocking and severe breach of security," he recalled. "The entire Opposition repeatedly demanded a statement from the Union Home minister. None was forthcoming. He remained silent as he is doing now on the brutalities inflicted by the Delhi Police on protesting youth last month," Ramesh said. Between December 14, 2023, and December 21, 2023, an unprecedented number of 146 MPs -- 100 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha -- were suspended, he pointed out. Following these record suspensions, with minimal Opposition presence during the remainder of the session, Parliament passed multiple significant pieces of legislation, the Congress leader said. Citing examples, he said three criminal law reform Bills were passed in the Lok Sabha on December 20 and in the Rajya Sabha on December 21.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.