press trust of india
New Delhi, July 24: Six Congress Lok Sabha members were Monday suspended from the house for five consecutive sittings after they tore up papers and threw them in the air and towards the Speaker’s podium to protest her decision disallowing a discussion on atrocities against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes.
The opposition parties protested against the decision and have decided to sit on protest on Tuesday morning near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the parliament premises while the government described the Congress members’ action as a “black day” in the history of parliamentary democracy.
The six MPs — Gaurav Gogoi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ranjit Ranjan, Sushmita Dev, M.K. Raghavan and K. Suresh — would have to remain out of the lower House for the whole of this week. The action by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan came after her persistent request to the Congress members to allow the house to run went unheeded as they remained adamant that the issue be discussed immediately.
Mahajan also warned the Congress members during Question Hour when they were raising slogans demanding discussion on the issue. During Zero Hour, as the Congress MPs were protesting, the six MPs tore up papers and threw them in the air and towards the Speaker’s podium. At the time Mahajan continued with Zero Hour.
“I want to see how much indiscipline was possible,” she remarked. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar demanded action against the members who threw papers. “This behaviour was not expected from Congress. This is shameful. There must be action against those who threw the papers. The members should be named,” he said.
Amid the din two BJP members raised the issue of Bofors scandal and demanded the case be reopened. After that Mahajan adjourned the House for lunch. When the House met post lunch, Mahajan announced the suspension of six Congress members.
“This conduct is not right. It is highly unbecoming and against the rules of the house which seeks to undermine the dignity of the House,” she said. Ruling that these members were “willfully obstructing” the house and had caused disorder, she announced their suspension under rule 374 A for “five consecutive sittings”. She then adjourned the House till 2.30 p.m.
When the House reassembled, opposition members rushed towards the Speaker’s podium protesting against her decision. Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, who was on the chair, urged the suspended members not to attend the proceedings but the opposition members continued protesting. Amid the din, he adjourned the House for the day. Afterwards, opposition members held a discussion inside the House with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The opposition members will meet on Tuesday morning to decide their strategy on the issue.
