The government on Tuesday took up the contentious bills to replace the colonial era criminal law for consideration and passing in Lok Sabha even as two-thirds of the opposition MPs were not present in the house after being suspended.
As many as 49 opposition MPs were suspended on Tuesday for the remaining part of the winter session for disrupting proceedings, taking the total tally of suspended MPs in Lok Sabha to 95.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam bills had earlier been introduced in the Lok Sabha in August to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.
However, they were later withdrawn and the reworked versions of the bills were introduced in the lower house last week.
The opposition MPs have been staging protest, demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the recent security breach in parliament.
The INDIA bloc parties had a strength of 138 in Lok Sabha, of which only 43 MPs are now left in the house following the mass suspension over the last two days.
Only nine MPs of the principal opposition Congress, including former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, are now left in the house. The strength of DMK was reduced from 24 to eight while that of the Trinamool Congress came down from 22 to nine.
Among other INDIA bloc parties, three Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MPs belonging to the Sharad Pawar faction, including floor leader Supriya Sule, have been suspended out of the four who are supporting the opposition. Aam Aadmi Party's lone Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku has also been suspended.
From the National Conference, two of the three MPs, including Farooq Abdullah, were suspended.
