Speaker suspends 21 Lok Sabha MPS
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday suspended 20 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members along with an unattached member for next four sittings for creating a ruckus in Parliament’s lower House on Thursday.
She had suspended 24 AIADMK members on Wednesday for five sittings for disrupting the proceedings in Lok Sabha by tearing papers and throwing them towards the Chair.
The AIADMK members have been protesting against a proposed dam in Karnataka on the Cauvery River, which is crucial for water needs of Tamil Nadu where their party is in power. The TDP members were demanding special category status, under which the Centre pays 90% of funds required in a centrallysponsored scheme as against 60% in case of other states, for Andhra Pradesh. AIADMK has 37 and TDP 15 members in Lok Sabha.
As soon as Lok Sabha proceedings commenced at noon Thursday, AIADMK and TDP members trooped in the Well, raising slogans and carrying banners.
The AIADMK members threw papers towards the Chair several times. Amid ruckus, parliamentary affairs minister Narendra Singh Tomar asked the agitating members to return to their seats. But they continued with their protests, prompting the speaker to initially warn them. “I warn you, I will take your names. You have come to the Well and are persistently creating trouble,” she said.
As the members refused to budge, the speaker suspended 11 TDP members, seven from the AIADMK and the unattached member.
Former civil aviation minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, (TDP) is among the suspended. “You are wilfully obstructing the proceedings of the House. I am, therefore, constrained to name you and suspend you for four consecutive days,” Mahajan said.
Subsequently, she adjourned the House till 2 pm after conducting business for nearly 15 minutes. When the House met again at 2 pm, some members continued with their protests in the Well despite their suspension. She then suspended two more TDP members for disrupting the proceedings. Amid the din, the House was adjourned for the day without taking up the remaining part of a debate on the Rafale aircraft issue.