Lok Sabha Speaker suspends 6 Congress MPs for ‘grave misconduct’

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 24

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended six Congress MPs from the House for “grave misconduct”, which included flinging torn bits of papers towards the Chair, hooting, clapping and snatching LS files from the table in a bid to throw them around.

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The members Speaker named — Gaurav Gogoi, Adhir Ranjan Choudhry, K Suresh, Sushmita Deb, Ranjeet Ranjan and MK Raghavan — stand suspended from the Lok Sabha for five consecutive sittings.

“These members persistently disrupted proceedings of the House causing grave misconduct. Gaurav Gogoi picked up files from the table of Lok Sabha Secretary-General and tried to throw them at the Chair. The rest of the members tore papers in their hands and flung them around. This conduct is unbecoming of MPs. I am, therefore, naming them under Rule 374 of the Conduct of LS, and they stand automatically suspended for five consecutive sittings,” Speaker said after unprecedented ruckus in the Lok Sabha in the pre-lunch session on Monday when Congress, Trinamool and Left MPs, agitated at being denied a chance to debate mob lynching, created a pandemonium.

They began with sloganeering and went on to stage a dharna in the House, followed by hooting, clapping and eventually flinging papers on the Chair. The Opposition was seeking adjournment of Question Hour to debate lynchings but the Speaker said they could only raise the issue in Zero Hour and should wait for questions to be over.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar severely condemned the behaviour of Congress MPs demanding they be named. “It is shocking to see Congress leaders touch such low levels of misconduct,” Kumar said to Speaker as Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Mallikarjun Kharge watched from their seats.

Opposition action followed an hour of ruckus over the issue, even as the Speaker kept on asking the leaders to honour Question Hour as per rules.

“I have disallowed adjournment notices. I am not saying I won’t allow you to raise the issue but not in this way. You can raise it in Zero Hour if you actually want a debate. It appears you don’t. I am only following the rules you made,” Speaker told an unrelenting Kharge.

Later in Zero Hour, Kharge expressed concern over the killings of people in the name of cow protection with the government represented by Ananth Kumar retorting: “Cow is our mother and needs protection but this government will not tolerate people taking the law into their hands in the name of cow protection.”

TMC’s Sugata Roy also raised the issue, after which the Speaker asked the Opposition to give a proper notice for a debate if they wanted a comprehensive discussion. At this, Opposition MPs, who had briefly returned to their chairs to hear Kharge, returned to the Well to again disrupt the House. It was at this point that they displayed "graver indiscipline" flinging papers around.

Meanwile, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amidst protest from Opposition members.