LS Speaker suspends 25 Cong members for five days

New Delhi, August 3

Relations between the government and the opposition nosedived on Monday, escalating confrontation further as 25 of the 44 Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha for five days for unruly behaviour, forcing the Congress and nine other parties to announce a boycott in protest.

The dramatic action by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was denounced as a “black day for India and democracy” by agitated Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, whose party warned that the development would find its echo in Rajya Sabha tomorrow which is already in turmoil.

The Congress’ remaining Lok Sabha members, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, will boycott the House tomorrow in protest against the suspension. Party MPs will stage a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament House.

The cracking down on Congress members is the first such disciplinary action in the current Lok Sabha at a time when the monsoon session so far has been a washout due to the relentless agitation by the Congress members over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues.

Though the BJP and ministers strongly defended the Speaker’s action, there were indications that the government could move for softening the punishment by urging the Speaker to reconsider her decision in an attempt to restore order.

This is not the first time members en masse have been suspended. In March 1989, 58 opposition members were suspended following protests on the floor. Later five more were added.

There have been suspensions on at least three occasions in the last three years of up to 16 members in one go.

The Speaker took the decision holding the members guilty of “persistently, wilfully obstructing” the House by displaying placards and shouting slogans.

The action came close on the heels of the all-party meeting convened by the government which failed to break the impasse.

After several warnings, Mahajan ‘named’ (identifying for action) the 25 Congress members who were in the Well demanding resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over the Lalit Modi row and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.

She adjourned the House immediately after. However, Congress members staged a sit-in in the House.

An angry Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also did not leave the House for quite some time and were seen holding discussions with leaders of some other opposition parties.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government was implementing the “Gujarat model” by resorting to suspension of opposition members and then running the House in one-sided manner.

Nine opposition parites decided to boycott LS for 5 days

At least nine opposition parties TMC, NCP, CPI(M), CPI, RSP, Muslim League, RJD, JD(U) and AAP decided to boycott Lok Sabha for five days along with the suspended members.

Mahajan later said she had taken the decision only to ensure that the House runs properly.

Ruling BJP on its part defended the Speaker's decision, saying she was “constrained” to do so as they did not heed her repeated warnings and it was no longer possible to run the House.

“It is a Black Day for democracy,” Sonia, who appeared very agitated over the Speaker's action, said.

JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav termed the decision as unfortunate and said it would only worsen the matters and make it more difficult to bring a reconciliation, a point made by TMC's Sudip Banghopadhyaya and CPI(M) P Karunakaran.

NCP MP Supriya Sule said that suspension of 25 MPs was “way too much”.

Defending Mahajan BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said it was the Speaker's prerogative to take appropriate decisions to run the House smoothly in accordance with people's wishes.

“It is the prerogative of the presiding officer to take all appropriate action to ensure that the House functions smoothly in accordance with wishes of people as it is the House of the people.

Opposition members who have not heeded repeated warnings from the Chair had to be suspended because it was not possible to run the House smoothly in accordance with rules," Rao said.

BJP leader and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the Speaker was constrained because these members refused to heed her requests.

Key NDA ally TDP said the Speaker was “forced” to take the decision as she was left with no other option.

“Forcibly, she has to do that. But, otherwise, there is no option. They are pushing like that... It is only the making of the opposition,” Union Minister and TDP Parliamentary Party Leader YS Chowdary said.

“The party is also in talks with the Samajwadi Party over the issue," Kharge said.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi set the tone for a combative Congress by telling party members to persist with their relentless protests over the “gross insensitivity of the Modi government to public opinion, for its absolute silence on acts of monumental corruption, its willful violations of the law and gross misdemeanours on the part of its leading lights”. —PTI