Trinamool, DMK, NCP demand revocation of suspension of seven Congress MPs

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): Members of the Trinamool Congress, DMK and NCP on Friday joined the Congress in seeking revocation of suspension of seven Congress MPs who were named by the Chair on Thursday, while the JD-U said that the members of the Opposition should assure the Speaker that misconduct of snatching papers will not be repeated.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said in the Lok Sabha it is not the intention of the government to keep the Opposition members out but the action of Congress members was unprecedented and amounted to gross misconduct.
Opposition members said that the situation could have been averted if the government had agreed to their demand for an immediate discussion on Delhi violence, which is a critical issue.
Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay suggested that the government may have exerted pressure on the Speaker for suspending seven MPs for remaining part of the budget session.
Bandyopadhyay, who is into his fifth term as Lok Sabha MP, said suspension from the House has happened in the past.
"Such incidents have happened but ultimately in a day or two the matters are normally settled," he said.
"We must admit we have not seen arrogance from Speaker's chair till now. He has always shown patience towards MPs and the beginning was very good. I apprehend whether the government is creating pressure upon the Speaker's office," he said.
He urged the Speaker to withdraw the decision, saying suspension from the entire session was a very "unwanted decision".
DMK member Dayanidhi Maran also demanded that action against seven Congress MPs should be withdrawn.
He said Opposition members cooperated when Health Minister Harsh Vardhan made a statement on coronavirus.
Maran said over 50 people had died in "communal violence" in Delhi and Home Minister has not come to the House to respond.
"Naturally, members will get agitated. We have been trying to get the attention of the Chair all these days," he said.
NCP member Supriya Sule said that what was happening was not a pleasurable experience and "we are not setting a good example in the country either".
"We would have never reached this logjam provided the discussion was allowed for all the issues that the Opposition is raising because Delhi issue and riots are an exceptionally critical issue," she said.
She said the Opposition was pressing for discussion to find a via-media
"India is going through a difficult challenge. We are taking a beating. There is uneasiness in the country. So have a healthy discussion in the larger interest of the nation. I request the treasury benches to walk an extra mile and allow us. I think the suspension is totally disproportionate," she said.
JD-U's Rajiv Ranjan Singh said an unprecedented situation has been created and the Speaker was forced to take a decision.
"Whatever happened, I do not think there was a need for it. There was opposition to the government earlier. We protested in well of the House. The developments have been recorded on CCTV."
"The decision has to be taken by the Chair but the Opposition has to assure that they will not repeat the mistake again," he said.
BJP's Nishikant Dubey said the party had resorted to protests during UPA rule and the government got several bills passed in the din but they never went to the Speaker's podium.
He said the rules that a member will be suspended for misconduct were framed when Congress was in power.
Dubey said a joint committee should be formed and if any member resorts to such indiscipline, he should be terminated for his entire term.
Joshi said he wants to make it clear on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy Leader of the House Rajnath Singh that there is no desire to keep the Opposition members out.
Noting that when he was a member of the Opposition, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee had checked him once for crossing over to the other side and party leader LK Advani also echoed it. He said Advani had also checked a member who had gone up a few stairs towards the Speaker's podium during a protest.
"What happened has never happened in 70 years," he said.
As party member Ramesh Bidhuri sought to respond to protests by Congress members, Joshi asked him to stop speaking.
Joshi said that there had been incidents of gross indiscipline including tearing papers related to the House and throwing of papers towards the Speaker.
He said 45 members were suspended when Meira Kumar was Speaker during the UPA rule.
Joshi said Speaker Om Birla had warned members with suspension if they go to the other side but Opposition members still did that. He said papers were thrown towards the Chair.
Noting that 18 bills were hurriedly passed during UPA rule, he said they had made a request to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury that there were two ordinances for which bills have to be passed and they wanted cooperation.
Chowdhury told them to take one bill on Thursday and the other on Friday. We accepted his suggestion. "When it was yet to be passed, they snatched papers from Speaker's table."
Referring to Rasthtriya Loktrantrik Party MP Hanuman Beniwal's pertaining to Congress leaders, he said these were immediately expunged.
"Several members make objectionable remarks. These are expunged," he said, adding that Congress leaders have spoken in harsh terms against the Prime Minister and Home Minister many times.
He said Prime Minister and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the leader of the House, have said that the decision of the Speaker will be acceptable to the government but there should not be such misbehaviour in the House.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said seven members have been suspended for an entire session and extraordinary precedent has been created.
He sought revocation of the decision and said a pickpocket cannot be sent to the gallows.
"Seven MPs were suspended together on what basis, I do not have information. There were so many MPs here, so many Opposition members. On what basis seven were suspended and that too for the remaining part of the budget session I do not have information," he said.
Chowdhury said the suspension was painful and everything was in the media glare and in CCTV footage.
"We have been demanding that there should be a discussion on Delhi riots," he said.
Chowdhury cited a book and said that rules provide that a member who is named will be suspended for five consecutive sittings or the remaining period of session whichever is less.
"Suspension of seven MPs is not a small thing. The Speaker can terminate the suspension," he said.
The Congress leader said members of the House will be always paying their honour, reverence to the Chair.
"We always regard the Chair as Pope of the Vatican. You could be resembling as the Pope of the Vatican," he said.
Chowdhury said the members never have any intention to dishonour the chair.
He said that remarks of BJP members when they were in Opposition were also in the records and the entire session had been washed out during their protests.
Chowdhury referred to Beniwal's remarks about party leaders which were expunged by the chair.
"It was said Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi have brought coronavirus from Italy. The Congress members got angry. There was a trigger. But no action was taken against him. We protest and action was taken is against us. This is not right," he said.
Chowdhury later said that Congress members wore black bands to protest against suspension of seven MPs.
Chowdhury's 'pickpocket cannot be sent to gallows' remark drew jibes from Joshi and Singh.
Singh said by referring to pickpockets, Chowdhury was accepting that Congress members had made a mistake.
Joshi rubbed in the point further during his speech and said Chowdhury "comparing" the suspended Congress members to pickpockets was strange and most unfortunate.
"Comparing these people with pickpockets is not right, I don't agree with that," the minister said.
Seven Congress members - Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Benny Behanan, Manickam Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan, Gurjeet Singh Aujla - were suspended on Thursday for remaining part of the budget session for "gross misconduct." (ANI)