Suspension of Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Lok Sabha revoked

The suspension of Congress leader and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Parliament's lower house has been revoked, as per a letter issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday.

"The suspension of Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, MP from the service of the House which was effected on 10.08.2023 till the submission of the report by the Committee of Privileges, has been revoked with effect from 30.08.2023," the statement read.

The Lok Sabha during the monsoon session suspended Congress floor leader Chowdhury for comparing a fugitive businessman with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion for Chowdhury's suspension, after the trust vote, and the Lok Sabha passed it by a voice vote.

The Opposition had walked out before the conclusion of the trust vote. The motion had referred Chowdhury's conduct to privileges committee to probe and propose further action, even as the Speaker expunged his comments.

Chowdhury's speech had led to stormy scenes in the House. Modi was present in the House when Chowdhury was speaking. As soon as Chowdhury made the contentious comment, BJP members led by home minister Amit Shah erupted in protest and Joshi demanded Chowdhury's apology. BJP MP Virendra Singh Mast rushed towards Chowdhury before he was stopped by senior colleagues.

Joshi then cited Rule 352(5) and demanded Chowdhury's remark be expunged as "PM is the highest authority". Chowdhury had invited the wrath of the Treasury also by talking about a blind king while referring to violence in Manipur.

After the trust vote, Speaker Om Birla said Chowdhury's and Mast's conduct were unacceptable. Mast offered an apology and said he held the House and the Chair in esteem, "but I couldn't take it when my leader was insulted."

Joshi moved the resolution and said Chowdhury was a 'habitual offender' who made 'unacceptable' and 'baseless' charges against the government and ministers. Joshi said Chowdhury was unapologetic about his conduct on Thursday.

In his speech, Chowdhury said, "the power of no-confidence motion has brought the prime minister to Parliament today. None of us were thinking about moving this no-confidence motion. We were only demanding that PM Modi should come to Parliament and speak on Manipur. Our demand was not to a BJP member but to the prime minister of the nation to come to Parliament."