Opposition urges government, Speaker Om Birla to revoke suspension of eight MPs

The suspended members are Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose (all Congress) and S Ventakesan (CPI-M).

New Delhi: Opposition leaders have urged the government and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to revoke the suspension of eight MPs -- seven from Congress and one from CPI(M) MP -- who faced the action during the first leg of Budget Session last month for "unruly" behaviour.

Sources said senior MPs KC Venugopal (Congress), Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Kanimozhi (DMK), Shatabdi Roy (Trinamool Congress) and Supriya Sule (NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar) had a meeting with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday, urging him to take steps to revoke the suspension.

The leaders told him that they were suspended on February 3 for the remainder of the Budget Session, which ends on April 2, following a protest against not allowing Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to conclude his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

They also told Rijiju that the government should look into reinstating them as the resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker has been defeated and there is a need to move ahead. Sources said no decision was conveyed by Rijiju to the Opposition leaders while assuring that he would hold consultations with the Speaker and the government leadership.

On Friday, Congress Chief Whip Kodikkunnil Suresh once again raised the issue before the Lok Sabha Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which was chaired by the Speaker. Rijiju was also present with sources saying that the Minister told the meeting that he would speak to the senior Ministers and get back.

While there was no headway on the issue of revoking suspension, Opposition sources claimed that the government has agreed to a discussion on the West Asia situation in Lok Sabha under Rule 193 that does not entail voting.

On Thursday when Birla returned to chair the proceedings in Lok Sabha, Venugopal had brought the issue to his attention but the Speaker then said, "baat karte hein (we will discuss)."

Manickam Tagore (Whip), Hibi Eden, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose (all Congress) and S Ventakesan (CPI-M) were suspended after they climbed atop a table and threw papers at the Chair on February 7.

The MPs have been sitting on dharna since then at the 'Makar Dwar', the main entrance of Parliament, and were joined by Rahul and MPs like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from time to time. Their suspension has been a sticking point between both the government and the Opposition with the latter referring to it during the debate on the resolution against Birla repeatedly.