Ruckus over inflation, record 19 Rajya Sabha MPs suspended till July 29

New Delhi, July 26

A record 19 members of the Rajya Sabha belonging to Opposition parties were today suspended from taking part in the proceedings of the House till July 29 for repeatedly causing disruptions.

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The development led to uproar in the House, with the penalised MPs refusing to leave. There were four adjournments till 3.40 pm and later the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day, without transacting much business.

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Seven of the members belonged to the TMC, six DMK and three TRS. This is the highest number of MPs suspended in one go. Previously, 12 Opposition members were suspended in November last year.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition MPs, who have been stalling the proceedings since the start of the monsoon session on July 18 over price rise, entered the Well of the House shouting slogans. Deputy Chairman Harivansh repeatedly asked them to return to their seats, but they refused. He then asked the treasury benches to move a motion for their suspension. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion to suspend 10 MPs for their “misconduct”. But when Harivansh put the motion to vote, he read out the names of 19 members.

The motion was carried by a voice vote. The suspended MPs refused to leave and squatted on the floor of the House, leading to adjournment. Those suspended were Sushmita Dev, Mausam Noor, Shanta Chhetri, Dola Sen, Santanu Sen, Abir Ranjan Biswas and Nadimul Haque of the TMC; M Mohamed Abdulla, Kanimozhi NVN Somu, M Shanmugam, S Kalyanasundaram, R Girirajan and NR Elango of the DMK; B Lingaiah Yadav, Ravichandra Vaddiraju and Damodar Rao Divakonda of the TRS; V Sivadasan and AA Rahim of the CPI-M; and Santosh Kumar of the CPI.

The TMC alleged the government had turned Parliament into a “deep, dark chamber”. The BJP said the decision was taken with a “heavy heart” as the MPs repeatedly ignored the chair’s appeals.