The Lok Sabha on Tuesday revoked with immediate effect the suspension of eight opposition Members of Parliament who had been barred from attending the House since February 3 for alleged “unruly” behaviour during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.
Announcing the decision, Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, stressed that members must maintain decorum inside the House and within the Parliament complex. He specifically directed that no placards, posters, photographs or AI-generated images should be displayed during proceedings.
The move came after senior K. Suresh of the Indian National Congress urged the House to reconsider the suspension. Suresh said the opposition regretted the incident and assured cooperation to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament.
Following submissions from opposition leaders, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said there was a need to draw a “Laxman Rekha” to maintain discipline and ensure orderly conduct in the House — a view supported by both treasury and opposition benches.
Rijiju subsequently moved a motion seeking revocation of the suspension of seven Congress MPs and one Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, which was adopted by a voice vote.
The MPs whose suspension was revoked include Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole, Dean Kuriakose of the Congress, and S. Venkatesan of the CPI(M).
The eight MPs had been suspended on February 3 after the House adopted a resolution accusing them of unruly behaviour during the first half of the Budget session. Their suspension was originally scheduled to remain in effect until the end of the session on April 2.
During the discussion, Dharmendra Yadav of the Samajwadi Party supported the move to revoke the suspension and assured that opposition members would maintain the dignity of the House. However, he also urged ruling alliance members to behave responsibly, mentioning Nishikant Dubey of the Bharatiya Janata Party and asking him to “correct himself”.
Dubey strongly rejected the remarks, stating that during his 17-year parliamentary career he had never done anything to lower the dignity of the House and demanded an apology from the Samajwadi Party member.
Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party said both ruling and opposition members must make efforts to ensure the House functions smoothly. She emphasised that personal comments should be avoided and mutual respect between treasury benches and opposition should be maintained.
Similarly, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Union minister and leader of the Janata Dal (United), said cooperation from both sides was necessary for smooth functioning of Parliament.
Rijiju reiterated that members had been elected by the people to participate in debates and legislative work, not to disrupt proceedings. Suresh also assured the House that since Monday the opposition had refrained from displaying placards or banners and would continue cooperating to ensure orderly proceedings.
