Presiding officers of both the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday took the tough decision of suspending AIADMK and DMK members for continuously raising a din over the days and disrupting the proceedings.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 24 AIADMK members for next five consecutive sittings (days) due to the “grave disorder” they caused with their protests over the Cauvery issue in the Well of the House. Her action came even as the House was having debate on the Rafale issue.
And Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, after being unable to convince the agitating members to allow the House to run, ordered members of AIADMK and DMK to leave the House for the day when they continued to protest in the Well over the Cauvery issue.
AIADMK members had trooped into the Well with placards and some flinging torn pieces of papers towards the table where Lok Sabha secretariat officials sit during proceedings.
A visibly peeved Mahajan suspended the 24 members of AIADMK under rule 374 (A) that allows Lok Sabha speaker to suspend members in the event of grave disorder occasioned by a member coming into the Well of the House or abusing the rules of the House, among other things.
The AIADMK MPs suspended included K Ashok Kumar, RK Bharathi Mohan, M Chandrakasi, Jayakumar Jayavardhan, K Parasuraman, Dr K Kamraj, P Kumar, M Vasanti, C Mahendram, K Margatham and P Nagarajan. The AIADMK, the third largest party in the House, has 37 members.
The Upper House had to be adjourned twice in the afternoon amid din over the issue and finally for the day, minutes after it reassembled at 3 PM. The protest by these members prompted Naidu to invoke Rule 255, asking over a dozen members of both parties from Tamil Nadu to leave the House for the day.
Rule 255 provides that the Chairman may direct any member whose conduct, in his opinion, is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the council. It says any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the reminder of the day’s meeting.
When the House resumed on the day AIADMK and DMK members started with their protests while many Congress MPs raised slogans for a JPC probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal. The House was adjourned twice during the Zero Hour.
Naidu made a fervent appeal for smooth functioning of the House as only four working days were left in the current Winter session and many important bills and discussions were pending.
The Rajya Sabha has faced repeated disruptions on various issue and not transacted any substantial business since it met on December 11 for the Winter session. “People are ridiculing us,” Naidu said, referring to repeated adjournments in the Upper House because of disruptions.
The Chairman said action would be taken against members protesting in the Well, if there is consensus in the House. However, he added that action would be against all members who troop into the Well. “It cannot be selective”.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Goel also requested the members from Tamil Nadu to allow the Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari to deliver his statement on the Cauvery issue. Naidu also said the minister had been called to the House to deliver a statement following the Tamil Nadu members’ request and now he should be allowed to do so.
However, the members from AIADMK continued their protest in the Well, with four DMK members also joining to associate with them. In the meantime, Naidu said now the minister (Gadkari) would not make a statement. He then asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to move a resolution to proclaim President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on December 19, 2018 under Article 356 of the Constitution.