Suspended! INDIA bloc loses 78 members in LS, RS

New Delhi: The Opposition INDIA bloc lost almost half its strength in Rajya Sabha and one-third in Lok Sabha as 78 MPs in total were suspended on Monday for unruly behaviour over the Parliament breach issue and disregarding the directions of the Chair.

The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.

Their another MP, AAP's Sanjay Singh, is behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case and stands already suspended. In the Lok Sabha on the other hand, the opposition bloc has a total strength of 133 MPs of whom 46, or around on-third, stand suspended.

The 46 include 33 suspended on Monday and 13 earlier. After the suspension of most of their leaders, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will now have to spearhead the alliance's attack in Rajya Sabha and Congress Parliamentary Par ty chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI-M's floor leader Elamaram Kareem and DMK floor leader Tiruchi Siva will also have to lead the opposition charge along with Kharge in the upper house, as others stand suspended.

Among the floor leaders suspended in Rajya Sabha are TMC's Derek O'Brien and deputy leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray; RJD floor leader Manoj Kumar Jha; Samajwadi Party's leader in the house Ram Gopal Yadav; JDU floor leader Ram Nath Thakur; JMM leader Mahua Maji; Kerala Congress (M) floor leader Jose K Mani and CPI leader in house Binoy Viswam.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi have been suspended and so are their chief whip K Suresh and whip Manickam Tagore.

Congress whip in lower house Ravneet Singh Bittu and leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari will have to lead the opposition party's charge now In Lok Sabha, several floor leaders including T R Baalu of the DMK, P R Natarajan of CPI-M, E T Mohammed Basheer of the IUML, N K Premachandran of the RSP; Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC have been suspended.

In Rajya Sabha, among the 34 suspended for the remainder of the session, 12 MPs are from the Congress. (PTI)