2 more MPs suspended after action against 141 Opposition leaders

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday suspended two more Opposition MPs for the remainder of the Winter Session of Parliament for misconduct. Both members -- Thomas Chazhikadan and AM Ariff -- hail from Kerala.

While Chazhikadan is from Kerala Congress (M), Ariff belongs to the CPM. Both were suspended for "displaying placards and entering the Well of the House", according to PTI. With this, a total of 143 Opposition MPs have been suspended from Parliament.

On his suspension, Thomas Chazhikadan said, "The demand of the Opposition is that the Home Minister comes to the House and gives an explanation on what happened and the reason behind it (security breach in Parliament)."

The Winter Session is set to end on Friday (December 22).

The session, which began on December 4, saw 14 MPs being suspended on December 14, 78 on Monday, 49 on Tuesday and now two more today.

The Opposition MPs were suspended for causing disruptions to the functioning of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and raising slogans while demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 Parliament security breach.

Opposition parties alleged that their voices were being suppressed and said it was a "murder of democracy". They have been staging protests outside the Parliament complex, protesting against the suspension.

On the other hand, the government contended that the MPs were suspended for violating the directives of the Chair in the Houses.