KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Monday condemned the suspension of 49 Lok Sabha members, calling it an "authoritarian" move and an effort to suppression opposition voices in the House.
The ruling party in West Bengal also demanded a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the recent security breach in Parliament.
Forty-nine Lok Sabha MPs were suspended from the House for disrupting proceedings on Tuesday, a day after 78 opposition members were suspended from Parliament.
With the fresh suspension, a total of 141 MPs from both houses have been suspended since December 14.
Additionally, AAP member Sanjay Singh has faced suspension as a Rajya Sabha member since July 24.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh questioned, "Is it a crime to demand a statement from the Union Home Minister regarding the breach of Parliament security? If he doesn't make a statement, then who will?".
Ghosh condemned the suspension of numerous MPs, calling it both "condemnable and authoritarian, aiming to quash opposition voices within the legislative framework".
In a social media post, the TMC asserted that attempts to silence the opposition would prove futile.
"The Opposition is muted! Over 140 MPs have been suspended from Parliament.
Why? For merely demanding discussion, debate, and a statement from HM @AmitShah.
India's democracy is endangered, but the numerous attempts by @BJP4India to silence the opposition will be in vain!" it said.
BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dismissed the TMC's allegations as baseless.
"The TMC, before pointing fingers at others, should first look at its own track record.
Just as it has been suspending the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly regularly, the TMC should not talk about democracy," Bhattacharya asserted.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on December 13, released a yellow-coloured smoke from canisters and raised slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.