Speaker suspends 25 Cong MPs for 'grave disorder'

In a move that may escalate the stand-off between the government and the opposition parties, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended 25 Congress MPs for five working days on charges of “grave disorder”.

The Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Indian Union Muslim League and Left parties stood by the Congress. However, functioning of the house depends on whether other non-NDA parties — SP, AIADMK and BJD — will oppose the Speaker’s decision which comes six days after she had suspended Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chaoudhary for a day.

The Speaker invoked Rule 374(A) which provides for automatic suspension of a member for five days to take action against 25 of the 44 Congress MPs. Among them were Gaurav Gogoi, G Sukender Reddy, Deepender Hooda, S Kodikunnil, S P Muddahanumegowda, Abhijit Mukherjee, Mullappally Ramachandran, K H Munniyappa, B V Nayak, Vincent Pala, M K Raghavan, Ranjeet Ranjan, C L Ruala, T Sahu, Rajee Satav, Ravneet Singh K Suresh, K C Venugopal and T Meinya. She immediately adjourned the House, which means the 25 suspended MPs will not be able to attend the House till Monday.

Hearing Mahajan’s verdict, agitated Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul were seen walking out from their seats to join the party MPs. But they both stepped back and not before other Congress members squatted on the floor even after Mahajan had left the House.       

She did not accept pleas of TMC leader Sudeep Bandhopadhyay and Left leaders not to take harsh action of suspending Congress members on the grounds that similar appeal by other opposition leaders earlier did not help in bringing peace to the House.

After the House was reconvened post adjournment at 11:15 am due to frequent disruptions that have continued since the start of the session, Speaker Mahajan repeatedly requested Congress members, who were armed with placards and shouting slogans inside the well, to return to their seats.

“This is not the way…Please..I’m sorry” and “take back these posters; these will not do..Please return to your seats,” were repeated appeals of Mahajan to unperturbed Congress MPs.

Warning the opposition not to “force me to take stringent action”, she reached out to Congress leaders, especially leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to advise his MPs.

At the nudge of Sonia Gandhi, Kharge stood up and repeated his party’s stand that for nine days, they were seeking resignation of Union minister Sushma Swaraj and two chief ministers Vasundhra Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan caught in controversies surrounding “Lalitgate” and Vyapam scam.

 He insisted that House will function normally after the government takes action.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while rejecting the demand, said there was no FIR, no court observation, the CVC, too, has not pointed out any wrongdoing and no prima facie case against Swaraj and the two chief ministers. “We have not shied away from discussion and we are ready for it,” he asserted.

Outside the House, Speaker Mahajan told reporters that “taking stringent action is not in my nature. That’s why I had called all party meeting and tried my best....This message is for everyone and everyone has to go by rules.”