Bhongir MP from Congress, Chamala Kiran Kumar, on Friday, March 12, questioned an invitation extended to him for a breakfast meeting with the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan, pointing out the contradiction of being invited to an official event while remaining suspended from attending Lok Sabha proceedings.
In a post on X, the Congress MP said the Office of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister had invited him to attend the breakfast meeting scheduled for March 16 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. While thanking the organisers for the invitation, he raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding it.
“I have been suspended from attending the Lok Sabha through a motion moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister himself. When I am not allowed to enter the very House I was elected to, how can I attend an official breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan?” he wrote.
The Bhongir MP added that the people who elected him expected their representative to participate in parliamentary proceedings rather than attend ceremonial engagements.
“The people of Bhongir elected me to represent them in Parliament — not to be kept out of the House while being invited for formalities outside it,” he said.
Opposition demands revocation of suspensions
His remarks come amid an ongoing standoff between the government and the opposition over the suspension of eight opposition MPs during the first part of the Budget Session.
Seven Congress members — Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose — along with CPI(M) MP S Venkatesan were suspended from the Lok Sabha on February 3 for the remainder of the Budget Session, which concludes on April 2.
The suspension followed an incident in the House in which the MPs allegedly tore papers and threw them towards the Chair, leading to disciplinary action for what was described as “unruly behaviour”.
Opposition parties have since demanded that the suspensions be revoked. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, DMK’s Kanimozhi and Trinamool Congress MP Shatabdi Roy met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday to press for the reinstatement of the suspended members, according to party sources.
Government consultations underway
During the meeting, Rijiju reportedly assured the opposition leaders that he would take up the issue with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The matter was raised again on Friday during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, where Congress chief whip K Suresh urged the Speaker and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to review the suspensions, sources said.
“Rijiju has told the opposition that he would get back to them on the issue after consultations,” a source familiar with the discussions said.
The suspension of the eight MPs remains the primary point of contention between the government and opposition parties in the ongoing Budget Session, sources told PTI.
The government is also understood to be considering a discussion under Rule 193 on the West Asia conflict and its potential impact on India’s energy security, the report added.
Protests by suspended MPs
Meanwhile, the suspended MPs have been staging protests on the steps of Parliament near the Makar Dwar, demanding that the disciplinary action be withdrawn.
Several opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, have joined the demonstrations from time to time in solidarity with the suspended members.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by P N Sree Harsha | | 
