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Telangana issue rocks Parliament, nine MPs suspended in Lok Sabha

For the second time this session, four TDP and five Congress members from Andhra Pradesh were on Monday suspended from Lok Sabha for the remaining five days for disrupting proceedings on the Telangana issue.

Cracking the whip,  speaker, Meira Kumar, suspended them for the rest of the Monsoon session which concludes on Friday.

Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day at 2 PM by Deputy Speaker Karia Munda after agitating TDP members did not heed to his request to withdraw from the House forthwith and allow its smooth conduct.

Three of the four TDP members N Kristappa, M Venugopal Reddy and N Sivaprasad were still in the Well despite it being adjourned for the day. Leader of TDP in Lok Sabha Nama Nageshwar Rao was seen consulting opposition leaders including Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj.

When the House assembled for the day, Speaker Meira Kumar suspended TDP members Kristappa, Venugopal Reddy, K N Rao and Sivaprasad and five Congress MPs A Sai Pratap, Anantha Venkatrami Reddy, N Rajagopal, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and K Bapi Raju for continuously disrupting the proceedings.

The action was taken under Rule 374(A) of Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha. As per the Rule, a member after being named by the Speaker stands ‘automatically suspended from the service of the House for five consecutive sittings or the remainder of the session, whichever is less’.

The Rule regarding automatic suspension is applied 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’.

This is the third instance of suspension of members in the present Lok Sabha. More than a year back, eight pro-Telangana Congress members had been suspended from the House for similar reasons.This is also the first instance when the same members were named twice in the same session under the Rule which came into being over a decade back. The previous action was on 23 August for paralysing the House since the current session began on 5 August.

The adjournment of the Lok Sabha also came at a time when BJP members were seen vociferously protesting over the alleged unparliamentary words used by Congress members against agitating TDP members.

In the Rajya Sabha, deputy chairman P J Kurien invoked Rule 255 to suspend TDP members C M Ramesh and Y R Chowdhary who trooped into the Well holding placards against formation of Telangana.

Rule 255 states that ‘the Chairman may direct any member whose conduct is in his opinion grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Council and any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the remainder of the day’s meeting.’
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