The Lok Sabha’s Wednesday morning proceedings were halted and the House adjourned amid protests and sloganeering by Opposition members over the suspension of eight opposition MPs on Tuesday during the Budget Session.
The suspended MPs, including Congress members Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, and Dean Kuriakose, as well as CPI(M) MP S Venkatesan, were also seen protesting outside Parliament, holding posters that read: “PM is compromised”.
The opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha for violating rules and “throwing papers on the chair” following uproar in the House over Congress leader and Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on mentioning a specific reference to the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP, Anand Bhadauria, defended Gandhi, saying he represents the voice of people who voted against the BJP. Accusing the ruling party of trying to silence all dissent by creating an uproar whenever national security issues are raised in Parliament, Bhadauria said the country is “not in safe hands”.
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“Rahul Gandhi is the LoP. He is the voice of everyone who voted against the BJP. If he wants to raise people’s voice in the Parliament, something related to national security, the BJP and the Treasury Bench should not raise such hue and cry...It is a conspiracy to stifle Opposition’s voice. If the truth comes out before the people of the country, BJP feels its so-called image of Vishwaguru will suffer a dent. The country is not in safe hands and public will get to know the truth. So, BJP is rattled,” he said.
On Tuesday, Gandhi said that he would not refer to any magazine article about former Army Chief Gen MM Naravane’s memoirs, but would briefly speak about Chinese action during the Kailash Range standoff in the house.
The government, however, maintained that Gandhi could not quote from an unpublished memoir or a magazine article based on it. The Chair directed him to resume his speech on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address and adhere to the ruling already given.
When the House resumed its proceedings, BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, named eight opposition members who had been “unruly”. Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijiju, then moved the motion for suspension of the eight members for the remainder of the budget session for “violating rules and throwing papers on the chair”.
The motion was adopted by the House amid protests from the opposition members.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reply today to the motion of thanks to the President’s address.
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