Parliament is the Temple of Democracy but the doors of the temple keep on shutting far too often. Most people hate Monday, the Opposition joins the list too. Monday marked the historic day in Indian parliament history as 78 MPs were suspended from both the houses of parliament on the grounds of ‘misconduct’ and ‘contempt of house’, taking the total to 92 in this session. While the NDA government might have been pissed over not blowing the opposition away with a spectacular 100 on 18^th December, the drama went on Tuesday too. While on Monday, the INDI alliance’s innings was trailing by 92. Tuesday witnessed the NDA securing a lead of 141 on the opposition with 49 more members getting their names on the suspension list of the lower house. When the lawmakers are excluded for the dissent that they show, it raises the serious ethical questions.

It was year 1989, when as many as 63 MPs were asked to walk out when Thakkar commission of inquiry into assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi was tabled in the house. It was a record suspension of members in a single day until Monday. From monsoon session in 2006 to February 2014, 51 MPs were suspended from temple of democracy. The number has quadrupled during the NDA regime, with 78 having to walk on 18 December, 2023 alone.

This suspension leaves the INDI Alliance in corridor of uncertainty. The alliance has 95 MPs in the upper house of the parliament. With 45 members having been suspended, it has lost nearly half of the power. On the other hand, it has 133 MPs in the lower house, Lok Sabha. 49 of those were suspended on tuesday which took the total to 95. Nearly 70 percent of the strength of the opposition in the house has been asked to sit out the winter session of parliament.

The recurring suspension has not only hit the opposition where it hurts but it has also cleared the way for the NDA government to clear bills in the house without any fear of dissent from the opposing voice in the house. The house of representatives is lacking in representations as the lawmakers are disappearing in the discourse far too often. On Dec 18, amid huge chaos in the house, two bills were passed by the upper  house. First being the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation (2^nd amendment) bill 2023 which paved the way for 33% reservation for women in the state assembly, whereas the second was the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) bill which also made way for 33% reservation in puducherry state. The two were passed within 12 minutes which shows the lack of proper house debates which were the spirit of democracy once. The Post Office Bill, 2023 was also cleared by the lower house. It seeks to reform the existing postal system and also overhaul the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. On 19^th December, the house passed other important bills too. One being the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Second (Amendment) Bill 2023 which addresses unauthorized colonies and slum relocation.

While the committee might be doing the work assigned to it, but it also needs to take into consideration the fact that the democracy fails to function when the very people who run it are made to sit out.