Continuing to wield stick to bring the House in order, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended three more AIADMK MPs and one TDP MP for two days for disrupting the proceedings of the House. She suspended 24 AIADMK members last Wednesday. Next day, she suspended 21 members of AIADMK, TDP and an 'unattached' YSR Congress member. So far she has barred 48 MPs to take part in the proceedings of the rest of session.
AIADMK MP M Thambidurai, who is also the Deputy Speaker, on Monday urged Mahajan to revoke the suspension of his party MPs for their behaviour. He said the Speaker has the power to take action against them, but added that they were raising issues concerning state's welfare. The members started their protests as soon as the House met this morning, forcing Mahajan to adjourn proceedings.
AIAMDK MPs K N Ramachandran, P Venugopal and KK Gopal were protesting over proposed construction of a dam by Karnataka on the Cauvery river while TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, whose party has been raising the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh, played a Tamil song in the house. Sivaprasad, known for sporting different costumes in the House, was dressed like former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran and held a whip in his hand.
As the House reconvened at noon, the members continued to protest in the Well despite warning from the Speaker. Sivaprasad this time was seen playing Khartal, a percussion instrument mainly used for devotional songs.
Upset over repeated disruptions and washout of proceedings, Mahajan had earlier reached out to leaders of all parties including Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. She is learnt to have conveyed to the leaders that the image of the Lower House has taken a hit, especially over MPs trooping into the Well of the House with placards. Sources said. Mahajan conveyed to the parties that live images of MPs disrupting the proceedings have sent out a negative image.
The Winter Session is the last full session before the next Lok Sabha elections and the government is keen to push some of the key Bills before the end of this session. Though there will be a Budget Session around February to pass the Vote On Account or an interim budget.
