JOIN US Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as the entire Opposition protested against the government’s move to suspend Seemandhra members from the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the rest of monsoon session forcing midday adjournment of the House.
Virtually every party, except those of the allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, opposed the government stand to suspend the MPs—six from the Congress and two from the TDP—who had disrupted the House throughout the session so far protesting against the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Agitated members, who rushed to the well of the House, even tried to pull the microphones from Speaker Meira Kumar’s podium. One of them took out a whip from his pocket and was about to hit himself before it was snatched by his party colleagues. Although the motion to suspend MPs was taken up for voting, it could not be passed in the melee.
An embattled government, already under pressure following the row over missing “coalgate” files, is understood to have decided not to press for the suspension taking note of the mood of the House. The Congress charged that the BJP had gone back on its word of supporting the proposal of suspension of members. It is not known if the government makes its position clear on the floor of the House on Friday. The fate of the “to be suspended” MPs hangs in balance.
“It is very unfortunate that from the very first day, the House has not been able to run. I propose that the MPs be suspended till the end of this session,” Nath said. In the motion, he said the 10 members have “behaved in a manner unbecoming of MPs by continuously disturbing the proceedings of the House”.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj opposed the move and even threatened to walkout if the Speaker put the motion moved by Nath to vote. There was utter chaos in the House as members from the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, TDP and the AIADMK, among others, rose to protest the government move. The Speaker took up the motion for vote as TDP and Congress members charged towards the chair and raised slogans demanding “justice for Andhra Pradesh.”
TDP member N Sivaprasad took out a whip while his colleague M Venugopala Reddy pulled the microphones from the Speaker's podium.
In the melee, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for about 30 minutes and called the leaders for a discussion. With Opposition leaders refusing to allow suspension of the protesting members, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day when it re-convened at 12:45 pm. During the Budget Session last year, eight pro-Telangana Congress members were suspended from the House for repeatedly disrupting the House proceedings over the Telangana statehood.
As a result of the high drama in the Lok Sabha, the much-touted Food Security Bill, slated to be taken up on Thursday, got delayed again.
The names of four TDP members—N Kristappa, K N Rao, M Venugopal Reddy and N Sivaprasad—and six Congress members—A Sai Prathap, A Venkatarami Reddy, L Rajagopal, M Sreenivasulu Reddy, V Aruna Kumar and G V Harsha Kumar—were read out by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath.