Deliberate design by BJP to throttle Oppn voice: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on his LS suspension

New Delhi: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Saturday reacted to his recent suspension calling it “a deliberate design by the ruling party to throttle the voice of the opposition.”

Following his suspension due to "repeated misconduct," pending an inquiry by the Privileges Committee, Chowdhury criticized the move during a press conference.

While addressing a press conference, the Congress leader stated, “This is a new phenomenon we have never before experienced in our career in Parliament…This is a deliberate design by the ruling party to throttle the voice of the opposition by resorting to various unsavoury instruments.”

Calling the move by the BJP-ruled Central government ‘retrogressive’, Chowdhury said, “This will undermine the spirit of parliamentary democracy…”

The Congress leader stated that if needed “I can approach Supreme Court as well”, adding that, “I cannot contradict the direction of the Chair but if I find that this kind of situation could be resolved by the Court, I may also try this.”

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Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments on the INDIA alliance, Chowdhury questioned Modi's aversion to the term "INDIA."

“Why is Modiji opposed to the word INDIA?…There is no difference between India and Bharat….”, he said.

Chowdhury also referenced the Prime Minister's silence on the Manipur issue, linking it to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.

The suspension occurred shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in the no-confidence motion debate. Prahlad Joshi, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, moved a resolution for Chowdhury's suspension, which was passed by a voice vote in the absence of Opposition members. Chowdhury was accused of disrupting the proceedings.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha also faced suspension from the Rajya Sabha on Friday due to alleged rule violation and misconduct. Similarly, earlier in the session, AAP's Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku was suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon Session after disruptive behaviour during a discussion on the Delhi services Bill.

Rinku rushed to the Well of the House, torn some papers and threw them in the direction of Speaker Om Birla.

The session saw further suspensions, including AAP MP Sanjay Singh from the Rajya Sabha, as Opposition members demanded a statement from the Prime Minister regarding Manipur. At one point, Singh moved closer to the Chairman’s podium, prompting Dhankhar to “name” him.

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