Eight Congress MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha by the Speaker on Tuesday for “unruly” behavior after chaos erupted over Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to mention an article based on excerpts from the unpublished “memoirs” of former army chief MM Naravane.
Opposition MPs were suspended for tearing up papers and throwing them at the Speaker.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved a resolution against the opposition MPs.
“May I state that this House has taken serious cognizance of the misconduct of Manickam Tagore, Amrinder Singh Raji Waring, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Prashant Padole, C. Kiran Reddy in utter contempt of the House and the authority of the Presidency by reaching the table of the General Secretary and other officers appointed by the Speaker and other officers in the well. Speaker, be it resolved that the members aforesaid may be suspended from the services of the House for the remainder of the session pursuant to Article 3742.”
The House approved the resolution by voice vote.
After that, Speaker Dilip Saikia announced the suspension of the Congress MPs.
Congress members, led by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest outside the Parliament building against the expulsion of party members from the Lok Sabha.
— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring
An hour before the MPs were suspended, Rahul Gandhi verified a copy of an article in the Lok Sabha that cited the unpublished “memoirs” of former army chief MM Naravane.
When asked to speak on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s speech, Gandhi cited the Speaker’s ruling on Monday and endorsed a copy of the article.
“I checked,” he said.
To verify the document, the member must submit a signed copy of the document certifying that it is correct to the best of his knowledge.
Prasad Tenneti, who presided over the House, asked him to table it and said “we will look into it and come back”.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Speaker had taken a decision on the matter and after that Gandhi should not raise the matter again.
Gandhi insisted that he was the leader of the opposition and objected to the term “permission” when he had to speak.