19 more AIADMK, TDP MPs suspended from LS

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday suspended 19 more MPs of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) after they continued to raise a ruckus in the House.

Sumitra, who had suspended 24 AIADMK MPs on Wednesday, took the same action against seven other members of the regional party as they came to the well of the Lok Sabha, raised slogans and waved placards, opposing the proposed project to build a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekedatu in Karnataka.

The AIADMK MPs also tore papers and threw pieces of the papers over the table of the officials in the well of the House.

The Speaker on Thursday also suspended 12 TDP MPs as they too, came to the well of the House to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The AIADMK and the TDP MPs trooped into the well of the House as soon as the Lok Sabha Assembled for the day.

Even as the proceedings of the Question Hour started, the AIADMK and the TDP MPs continued to raise slogans.

The Speaker warned the agitating MPs against creating a ruckus. She later adjourned the House till 12:00 noon.

When the Lok Sabha reassembled, the AIADMK and the TDP MPs returned to the well and started raising slogans and waving placards.

The AIADMK MPs again threw pieces of papers in the air. As her appeal to the agitating MPs to return to their seats fell on deaf ears, Mahajan first warned them and then suspended 19 of them for four sittings of the House, in accordance with the clause 374 (A) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

She later adjourned the House till 2:00 p.m.

The Speaker had on Wednesday suspended 24 AIADMK MPs for the next five sittings of the House after they had created a ruckus and frequently interrupted a discussion on the Rafale deal.

The 43 suspended MPs are unlikely to return to the Lok Sabha for the rest of the winter session, which is set to conclude on January 8.

Earlier, as soon as the Lok Sabha assembled at 11:00 a.m, Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the House, rose to seek Speaker’s permission to speak on the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs allowing 10 central agencies to monitor computers.

Kharge and other Congress MPs like Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Rajiv Satav moved notices for adjournment motion on the issue.

The Speaker, however, did not allow Kharge or anyone else to raise the issue during the Question Hour.

She assured them that they would be allowed to speak during the Zero Hour later in the day.