Speaker to set up panel to look into Parliament ruckus

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will form a committee to review all developments in the Lower House of Parliament from the beginning of the second half of the budget session till Thursday when seven Congress MPS were suspended for the remaining part of the session.

An announcement to the effect was made by Kirit Solanki, who was in the chair as Birla continued to stay away from the House even as the Congress and other opposition parties embarked on a fresh round of protests.

Solanki informed the House that all developments in the House between March 2 and March 5 will be reviewed by the panel, which will be headed by Birla and have representatives from almost all parties.

Earlier in the day, several members urged the Speaker to take back his decision to suspend the seven MPS. Congress MPS Gaurav Gogoi, Manikram Tagore, Benny Behanan, Dean Kuriakose, Rajmohan Unnithan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla were suspended after they stalled proceedings for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, and started throwing papers from the

Speaker’s table.

As proceedings began in the Lower House on Friday, Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called Birla “Pope of the Vatican” and urged him to reconsider his decision. Members from the Trinamool Congress (Sudip Bandopadhyay), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dayanidhi Maran), Nationalist Congress Party (Supriya Sule), and Janata Dal (United) (Lallan Singh), too urged the Speaker to withdraw the suspension.

Chowdhury dubbed the Speaker’s decision to suspend seven MPS for the remaining term of the House unprecedented and urged the Chair not to punish them heavily for what he termed a relatively small matter.

In response, parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi said that while the government does not want to keep any member away from the House, what happened on Thursday has never happened before in India’s parliamentary history.

“Such behaviour should not be displayed in the House. Earlier, inappropriate words were said against the PM and Amit Shah in the House but we did not do anything,” Joshi said.

Trinamool’s Bandopadhyay said: “He (the Speaker) has always shown patience towards the MPS and the beginning (of the 17th Lok Sabha) was very good. I apprehend whether the Government is creating pressure upon the Hon. Speaker.”

In the Rajya Sabha, vice-president Venkaiah Naidu urged members from both sides to discuss repeated disruptions in the House. “What happened in this House is a matter of concern... I appeal to all including the government and the Opposition -please discuss amongst yourselves and come to a meaningful solution.”

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha saw disruptions for the fifth day in a row, as Opposition members demanded that the government hold a discussion on the communal violence that erupted in north-east Delhi, leaving at least 53 people dead. Chowdhury led others into the Well of the House in protest, demanding the resignation of home minister Amit Shah.

Despite the din, the Lok Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill 2019 and the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020.