2015 Monsoon Session of Parliament - Another day of chaos and disruption in Parliament Monday August 03,2015

 

The Monsoon Session of Parliament continued to be a washout as both the Houses witnessed another day of disruptions and adjournments on Monday August 03,2015

 

Congress-led opposition parties continued to stall the proceedings of Parliament, inviting the ire of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who went on to suspend at least 25 opposition MPs for five days

Following two weeks of paralysis in parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today suspended over half of the Congress Party lawmakers, who have been demanding resignations of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, while shouting slogans and carrying placards in the lower house of parliament.

Over the course of the Monsoon Session, Mahajan had repeatedly asked Opposition members not to carry placards in the Lok Sabha, but as they persisted with shouting and protesting in the lower house on Monday, the beleaguered speaker suspended 25 out of 44 Congress Party lawmakers.

Defending her action, Mahajan said that she had called an all-party meeting to request lawmakers to stop carrying placards, but they have consistenly defied her. "This message is for everyone to go by the rules," Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told after Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day

The MPs were suspended for causing "grave disorder" in Parliamentunder Rule 374(A)

The Rule 374(A) 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 wilfully 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."

The Speaker 'named' (identifying for action) the 25 members who were carrying placards and shouting slogans in the Well while pressing for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over Lalit Modi row and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over Vyapam scam.
The suspended Kerala MPs are Mullappally Ramachandran, Kodikunnil Suresh, K.C. Venugopal and M.K. Raghavan. Thirteen suspended MPs are from the Congress party

Reacting to the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to suspend the MPs, Congress president Sonia Gandhi termed it as a "black day in the history of India's Parliamentary democracy"

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) also decided to boycott Lok Sabha proceedings for five days to show solidarity with suspended Congress members.

Condemning the decision of the Speaker, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused  Sumitra Mahajan of "not allowing the opposition to speak". "Democratic processes are not being respected. It is a black day, they want to suppress and oppress us,"

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