The Congress MPs – Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, TN Prathapan and S Jothimani – were named by Rajendra Agrawal – who was the president – first for displaying posters in the House under rule 374. The face- off between the government and the Opposition over the ultimate’s demand for a critical discussion on price rise and the hike in GST rates escalated on Monday with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suspending four Congress MPs for the remaining part of the current session for “ misconduct ”. criminating the government for trying to “ blackjack ” the Opposition, the Congress said it would “ continue the fight ”.
The MPs — Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, T N Prathapan and S Jothimani — were named by Rajendra Agrawal, who was the president, under Rule 374, for displaying posters in the House. Administrative Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also read out a motion seeking their suspension for the rest of the session, which was passed by a voice vote.
The Monsoon Session ends on August 12. While the Opposition has been demanding an immediate discussion on price rise and the hike in GST rates of essential goods, the government has maintained that it’s ready for a discussion, but it can only be held after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid. When the House met at 2 pm, the Speaker said the government was ready for a discussion as demanded by the Opposition. He told the members not to display posters, saying he’d be left with no option but to take action to uphold the quality of the House.
With the Opposition implacable, Birla repeated the warning. “ I’m requesting you again that it’s the responsibility of the members to uphold the quality of the House. Whosoever displays posters I’m telling you for the last time they won’t be allowed to be part of the proceedings, ” he said.
Before propagating the House till 3 pm, Birla said “ If you want to have a discussion, I’m ready to start the discussion at 3 pm. But if you want to display posters and indulge in watchword crying also after 3 pm, you’ll have the right to show posters and roar taglines outside the House this House can not serve like this. I’m requesting you for the last time those members who show posters before the president, who want to break the quality of the House after 3 pm, they will get acceptable time and occasion outside the House. ”
When the House reassembled at 3 pm, the demonstrators continued. Agarwal also invoked Rule 374 and named the members, saying they had shown “ stubborn geste ”, “ designedly and continuously disintegrated proceedings ” and ignored House rules and directions of the Speaker.
Joshi moved the stir which said, “ That this House having taken serious note of the misconduct of Manickam Tagore, T N Prathapan, S Jothimani and Ramya Haridas and maximum casualness to the House and the authority of the Chair and having been named by the Speaker resoluteness that the below mentioned members be suspended from the service of the House for the memorial of the session under Rule 374( 2) ”.
According to Rule 374, “ The Speaker may, if deems it necessary, name a member who disregards the authority of the president or abuses the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully gumming the business thereof. ” Rule 374( 2) says “ if a member is so named by the Speaker, the Speaker shall, on a stir being made forthwith put the question that the member( naming similar member) be suspended from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session. ”
The Congress said the action against the MPs was a “ spot on republic ” and accused the government of trying to “ blackjack ” the Opposition for raising people’s issues.
“ We’ve only two demands: the withdrawal of GST on essential goods and a discussion on price rise. We’ve been demanding this for the last six days. We’ve been giving adjournment notices every day but the government isn’t succumbing. There’s no unruly geste by us. We didn’t hurt the quality or form of the House. It’s our right to protest when the government does n’t listen to our licit demand for a discussion on the rigours faced by the people, ”
The government, she said, is hysterical about holding a discussion. “ The government says let Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman return, and they will hold a discussion. Flashback it was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who replied to a discussion on the ranch laws. And it was the late Arun Jaitley who replied to a discussion on the Rafale issue. He was the Finance Minister also and Sitharaman was the Defence Minister, ” she said.
“ So all these are defences to avoid a discussion. Why can’t the Prime Minister come to the House? He’s the head of the government. He can hear the discussion and answer. It’s our right to seek a discussion in Parliament. This government thinks they can scarify us by suspending us. That isn’t going to be. We’ll continue our fight. However, we will commit that crime again and again, ” she added, “If raising the issues of people at the bottom of Parliament is a crime.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government was resorting to suspense to garrote the voices of the Opposition. “ I must appreciate the moral rectitude and intrepidity of those suspended members, and will double- down our sweats to expose the anti-people programs of this government, ” he said.
Coming out in support of the MPs, BSP leader Danish Ali twittered “ How unfortunate is that, two youthful women MPs from weaker sections( Haridas and Jothimani) have been suspended from Lok Sabha just for demanding a discussion on price rise, the veritably same day when a woman from an tyrannised class took pledge as the President of India. ”
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