From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a crackdown on the continuous pandemonium since monsoon session of Parliament began on July 18, four Congress MPs — Manickam Tagore, T N Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas — were selectively named by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi in the Lok Sabha and suspended for the rest of the monsoon session scheduled till August 12.
The Lok Sabha passed by a voice vote the resolution moved by Joshi shortly before 4 PM and presiding chairman Rajendra Agrawal, who carried on the business despite pandemonium with repeated reminders to the protesting MPs about the Speaker’s warning earlier in the day, immediately adjourned the House for the day.
Though almost all Congress MPs are in the well raising slogans and many carrying placard, the parlimentary minister opted to name only four of them. Even as he was moving a resolution, the Opposition members countered with the chorus of “justice.”
Speaker Om Birla had warned earlier in the day while adjourning the House to 3 PM that he is now left with “no alternative but for action” and those bringing placards inside the House will not be allowed to take part in the proceedings.
In the House that began only at 2 PM on Monday in view of the President’s swearing-in ceremony in the Central Hall in the morning, Birla expressed annoyance over the MPs storming the well and shouting with placards despite he stating that the government was ready to hold discussions on the matters they raised but only when a decorum is restored.
“This is a temple of democracy, it is the responsibility of the members to maintain the dignity of the House,” the Speaker said before adjourning the Lok Sabha till 3 pm.
He added: “If you [Opposition] want to hold a discussion, then I am ready for it. If MPs only want to show placards in the House, then they can do so outside the House after 3 pm. The people of the country want the House to run.”
