Prathapan, Ramya among 4 Cong MPs suspended for disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings

New Delhi: Opposition protests over price rise, GST and other issues marred proceedings in Lok Sabha for the sixth consecutive day, with four Congress members suspended for the rest of the session for their conduct.

Many members trooped into the well of the House during the question hour, shouting slogans and displaying placards.

Four Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha despite a warning by Speaker Om Birla.

Amid continuous disruptions, the Chair named Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas. When a member is named, he or she has to immediately withdraw from the chamber of the House.

They were protesting against price rise raising placards. Though the MPs were told that they will be allotted time for discussing the same after 3pm, they refused to do away with the protests. 

Later, Parliamentary Affair Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a resolution to suspend the four for the rest of the session.

The House then passed the resolution by a voice vote and Rajendra Agarwal who was chairing the proceedings announced their suspension. He later adjourned the proceedings for the rest of the day. 

Cong slams govt, calls it 'blot on democracy'

The Congress described as a "blot on democracy" the suspension of four of its MPs for the rest of the session for disrupting proceedings in Lok Sabha, saying the government was trying to "intimidate" it but it would not be cowed down.

Speaking with reporters along with the four suspended MPs, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said, "The government is trying to intimidate us by suspending our MPs. What was their fault? They were trying to raise the issues which matter to people."

The Congress party will not be cowed down like this, he asserted.

"The MPs were holding placards raising the issues of rise in prices of gas cylinders, and imposition of GST on items such as flour and buttermilk. We moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on these issues, but no discussion was held," he said.

Tagore, one of the suspended MPs, alleged that the government only hears the voice of the fourth-richest man in the world and not the common man.

Tagore was apparently referring to industrialist Gautam Adani, who recently became the world's fourth richest man, surpassing Bill Gates, with an estimated wealth of $116 billion.

The Congress has been demanding a discussion on price rise, giving notices for adjournment motion but the government has shown "complete arrogance", the Congress' chief whip in Lok Sabha said.

"Today, when a tribal woman has taken oath as President, a Dalit woman has been suspended from Lok Sabha," he said.

He said that the BJP only wants Parliament to cheer its leaders and its victory.

"We were trying to show placards in the House and place them in the camera angles. They say placards are not allowed in Parliament... what is allowed is only cheering for Modi ji," he said.

Asked about the suspension at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said there is a tradition in Parliament that suspension is done only in exceptional and rarest of the rare circumstances when the member is unruly and there is no other option but suspension of that member.

"It is a tradition of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that the member comes to the well of the House, it gets adjourned, there is a dialogue, a middle path is found and work goes on. Suspension is not the way and in the past, suspension has not happened in this manner," he said.

Gohil pointed out that the Speaker or Chairman has the right to name members, ask them to go out or adjourn the House, hold dialogue and find a way.

"Never has the Parliament been run by suspending Opposition members, by just having their way. This kind of way of running the House, what Hitler had done, are we going in that direction where Parliament will be run without the Opposition," Gohil said.

"Inflation is an important issue and the Opposition wanted a discussion on it, he said, adding that if you don't agree to it, we are left with no option but to shout, go to the well. What else would we do?" he asked.

He said that when the BJP was in Opposition it had done the same thing repeatedly, and argued that stalling the House is a tactic of the Opposition which is in public interest and running of the House is the job of the party in power.

"Suspension instead of dialogue is a blot on democracy," he said.