Om Birla, the Speaker of the Lower House of Indian Parliament, revoked the suspension of seven opposition Congress party lawmakers on Wednesday.
The lawmakers had initially been suspended for the entire Budget Session of the House for their “unruly behaviour” and for showing disrespect to the Chair during the session.
The suspension was revoked after the Speaker held a meeting with members of sub-committee formed to look into the matter.
After the House reconvened after the Holi festival break, Congress parliamentarians joined other parties such as the DMK and Communist Party, demanding the withdrawal of the suspension orders.
The Congress lawmakers were suspended on 5 March for staging a protest in the House by chanting slogans, showing placards and even throwing paper on the Chair while demanding Home Minister Amit Shah step down for “failing to contain the communal violence” in Delhi in February.
Exacerbating the situation was a comment by regional lawmaker Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party who made a rude remark about the politically powerful Gandhi family, members of which are key figures in the Congress party.
Meanwhile, the government had stated in Parliament that it is ready to discuss the Delhi violence on 11 March in the lower house (Lok Sabha) and on 12 March in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha).
Northeast Delhi witnessed three-day communal violence in February over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which claimed 53 lives and left over 400 people injured. Houses and public property was set on fire and a curfew was imposed in the worst-affected regions.
The CAA allows "persecuted" illegal migrants, who arrived in India on or before 31 December 2014, from the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, Christian and Sikh communities to gain Indian nationality. While some voters support the government’s policy, many see it as discriminatory to Muslims.
