Why Modi is facing a backlash over mass suspension of Indian opposition MPs

Two-thirds of the 142 opposition MPs in lower house are now suspended as Modi’s BJP is set to pass major criminal code reforms

The Indian government is facing criticism from opposition parties after the unprecedented suspension of 141 members from parliament, including a large majority of all opposition MPs from the lower house.

The MPs were demanding a ministerial statement be provided to the house over a significant security breach last week, when two smoke bomb-wielding protesters ran through the chamber of the Lok Sabha, or lower house.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, a member of Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party, suspended 14 MPs last week on the basis that they were disrupting the house’s proceedings by repeatedly demanding the breach be discussed. He suspended another 33 on Monday and 49 on Tuesday, meaning that of 142 opposition MPs in the 543-member lower house, 95 are suspended until the end of the winter session.

In the 250-member upper house or Rajya Sabha, there are 101 opposition parliamentarians. Of these, 46 have been suspended for making similar demands.

“All democratic norms are being thrown into the dustbin by an autocratic Modi,” Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the largest opposition party, Congress, posted on X. Another senior party member, Jairam Ramesh, called it “the murder of democracy”.

The suspensions come at a significant time for India’s legislature, with the BJP aiming to push through four important new bills in the coming days, including three overhauling the country’s colonial-era criminal codes.

“We are completely ready for discussion,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said last Friday. “Very important bills are coming in the coming days, including three bills related to the Indian Criminal Procedure Court which will be discussed. We urge [the opposition] to engage in meaningful discussion during this time,” he said.

Although disruptions and protests are not unusual in the Indian parliament, the total of 141 suspensions by the presiding officers of the two houses is a record in the history of the country since independence, according to analysts.

Mr Modi’s party defended the move, accusing the opposition of deliberately obstructing the functioning of parliament.

“The rude behaviour of the Congress and its friendly partners… has embarrassed the entire country,” said Piyush Goyal, a BJP MP. “Both the speaker and the [Rajya Sabha] chairman were insulted today.”

In a video broadcast on the parliament’s live stream on Monday, the protesting opposition lawmakers were shown gathering in front of the chairman of the upper house, Jagdeep Dhankhar, and shouting slogans as they sought a discussion of the 13 December security breach. Similar scenes were also witnessed in the lower house.

Mr Modi, in an interview with a Hindi-language newspaper, earlier said that while the breach was very serious and there should be a detailed investigation into it, there was “no need to debate this” in parliament.

On Tuesday, the prime minister mocked the opposition for what he called their “antics”, saying that they are “not destined to do constructive work”, and might not return to parliament after the next year’s general election “even in the current strength”.

Mr Modi is also alleged to have expressed concern at “attempts” to justify the parliament security breach, saying it is as worrisome as the incident itself, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told news agency PTI.

The remarks came in an apparent reference to comments from Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi, who blamed unemployment and price rises for the smoke-bomb protest.

“How can a party believing in democratic values overtly or covertly justify it,” PM Modi said, according to party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

But opposition lawmakers pushed back against the suspensions, accusing the government of behaving in a autocratic manner by not even permitting a discussion of th ebreach.

"This government has reached the apex of dictatorship,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress’s leader in the lower house. “They have the majority, and they are wielding the stick of power. They want to run parliament like a party office. But that cannot happen. We were eager for a discussion. The productivity of parliament before 13 December is for all to see. It seems they find it easier to talk to the media, but are scared to speak in parliament," he said.

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, join other lawmakers in a protest against the suspension of lawmakers, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, 19 December 2023 (AP)

“First, intruders attacked parliament. Then Modi govt is attacking parliament & democracy,” Mr Kharge said on Monday on X. “With an opposition-less parliament, the Modi govt can now bulldoze important pending legislations, crush any dissent, without any debate.”

Last week, police filed terrorism charges against five people after two individuals entered India’s lower house of parliament and hurled smoke bombs. They created chaos by leaping into the well where lawmakers typically sit and let off smoke canisters, filling the space with a yellow gas.

The federal home ministry is also investigating the breach.

While the Indian parliament has a history of at-times raucus and disruptive behaviour from MPs, this is by far the largest number of MPs to have been suspended in decades. The last major mass-suspension was in 1989, when 63 members of the lower house were ordered out amid an uproar over the tabling of a commission inquiry looking into the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

While both opposition and ruling parties have an equal stake in ensuring the functioning of parliament, political analysts believe that when it is not working effectively, the government in power benefits.

“It benefits in a way that ministers don’t have to answer questions about the functioning of their ministry,” Chakshu Roy, the head of legislative and civic engagement initiatives at a political research institute PRS Legislative, earlier told The Independent during an interview in 2021, at a time when the Modi administration was also facing accusations of attempting to bypass parliament.

“A law is passed quickly without a debate. So, the government’s legislative agenda gets accomplished. The opposition also suffers because it is not able to corner the ministers, or point out the improvements in the law that can be done.”

Unlike in Westminster, India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. While the Indian constitution broadly stipulates a gap of no more than six months between two parliamentary sessions, it is convention to hold three short sessions per year. But even these are cut shorter still due to frequent disruptions.