NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 6
The tensions in the Lok Sabha came to a head-on Thursday with seven Congress MPs being suspended for the remainder of the budget session for “gross misconduct” and disregard of House rules after papers were snatched from the Speaker’s table and proceedings disrupted.
The Congress MPs have been barred from taking part in House proceedings, marking a further deterioration of relations between the main opposition and the treasury benches. The two sides repeatedly clashed, with MPs even jostling and pushing each other, over Congress’s demand that the Delhi riots be discussed before any other business was taken up. Tensions seem set to escalate because of indications that BJP may press for termination of the membership of Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, who snatched papers from the Speaker’s table.
The drama unfolded in the morning with senior BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab in the chair — Speaker Om Birla stayed away for the second day expressing unhappiness over the aggressive behaviour of some opposition MPs — and saw loud sloganeering by Congress MPs in the well.
In the afternoon, soon after the House reconvened, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who was in the chair, named Congress’s Gogoi, T N Prathapan, Gurjit Aujla, Dean Kuriakose, Manickam Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan & Benny Behanan, and announced that they were being suspended for the entire session. Thursday turned out to be more volatile that the earlier part of the week as BJP ally Hanuman Beniwal hinted that Congress’s Rahul Gandhi ought to have declared his recent travel to Italy while speaking on the coronavirus issue — forcing an adjournment just as the House was transacting some business.
Tempers have been fraying in the LS with Congress allegedly breaching an agreement reached in discussions of the opposition with the Speaker that MPs entering the well or protesting would not “enter” the space of other parties. It was felt that physical separation was necessary to prevent clashes. Congress MPs moving towards BJP benches has led to jostling and shoving with placards being bandied about.
The Congress camp has claimed that the understanding also included the government not passing legislation in a din, which has been breached. With the so-called terms failing to hold, the scenes in the House have been chaotic.
When the proceedings resumed, Congress members were in the well protesting once again. It was then that Gogoi snatched some papers from the marshal aiding presiding officer Rama Devi. Later, Lekhi said when the House was discussing the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, some members “forcefully” snatched and tossed papers from the Speaker’s podium.
Govt to seek termination of Gogoi’s membership
The government is likely to press for termination of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s membership of Lok Sabha and sources said the suspension of the seven members would not be negotiable even to reach an agreement to run the House smoothly. “The Speaker has accepted a request by the government to set up a committee to investigate continuous indiscipline by Congress members and the snatching of papers by a party MP,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, adding the membership of the MP (Gogoi) who snatched papers from the Speaker’s table must be terminated.
