By TN Ashok
New Delhi, Dec 03 Some 37 Members of the Lok Sabha were suspended including 24 from aiadmk yesterday and today for repeatedly trooping into the well of the house and disrupting the proceedings for what speaker Ms Sumitra Mahajan said was against the violation of the house rules. She named 7 MPs from AIADMK and 14 from TDP for suspension for the next four days.
AIADMK Leader in Lok Sabha Dr Venugopal and deputy speaker |Thambi Durai are not in the list of suspensions are they did not participate.
The Lok Sabha thereafter adjourned for the day to meet again tomorrow (Friday) morning without transacting any major business as members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Telugu Desam Party continued their protests over a range of issues.
Ms Mahajan suspended the MPs under rule 374(A), which allows the Speaker to take punitive action against those causing disruption in the House. The Tamil Nadu MPs have been protesting against the construction of a dam on the Cauvery River, while TDP members have been demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh.
Mahajan had on Wednesday suspended 24 AIADMK members for repeatedly entering the Well of the House to protest on the Cauvery issue. The party has 37 members in the Lower House. On Thursday, seven AIADMK members again protested in the Well by shouting slogans and flinging piece of paper in the air. They were joined by over a dozen Telugu Desam Party MPs, leading to a din in the House.
Mahajan initially adjourned the proceedings till noon. Later, she adjourned the Lower House till 2 pm after members refused to call off their protests, agencies reports indicated.
Several adjournment motions were moved in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Rajiv Satav moved an adjournment motion over an order that allowed 10 central agencies to monitor computers.Congress leader KC Venugopal and Suresh Kodikunnil and Indian Union Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty moved a motion over the entry of women to the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP JP Yadav also moved an adjournment motion over the eradication of the Ahir or Yadav regiment from the Indian Army.
In the upper house in Rajya Sabha, MPs of both AIADMK and DMK were asked to leave the House for a day yesterday for disrupting proceedings when they marched to the well of the house to protest Centre’s decision for granting permission to Karnataka to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the ambitious multi-purpose Mekedatu project across Cauvery river.
Members of Parliament were first named and suspended in the Rajya Sabha by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday afternoon. He accused the MPs of shaming the Parliamentary system and demanded that they be removed from the House under rules 255 and 256 for the rest of the day. Naidu’s decision came after the MPs continued raising slogans despite the Water resources minister Arjun Ram Meghwal expressing readiness to address their concern regarding the dam.
Amongst the suspended members in the Rajya Sabha were DMK’s Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva, AIADMK’s Navneethakrishnan, V Maitreyan, Vijila Satyanantha and A Vijaykumar.
Similarly in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan named and suspended MPs after they failed to heed to her warning for maintenance of decorum in the House. They were suspended under Rule 374(A) of the House, which says, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Rules 373 and 374, in the event of grave disorder occasioned by a member coming into the well of the House or abusing the Rules of the House, persistently and willfully obstructing its business by shouting slogans or otherwise, such member shall, on being named by the Speaker, stand automatically suspended from the service of the House for five consecutive sittings or the remainder of the session, whichever is less.”
“We are against the Centre’s decision to allow Karnataka to draft a DPR for the dam. This is against Supreme Court’s order on water sharing. They don’t have the right to build a dam across the Cauvery. It was wrong for Karnataka to ask and wrong for the Centre to hear this out. We will continue protesting, “said MP A Navaneethakrishnan, leader of AIADMK in Rajya Sabha.
The Tamil Nadu government has already petitioned the Centre and the Supreme Court to stop Karnataka building the balancing reservoir fearing denial of its share of water. Tamil Nadu has also disputed Karnataka’s claim on the project’s purpose, as storing the river water will allow it generate hydel power and thus restrict its flow into its delta region.
