Eight Opposition MPs axed till Budget Session ends

Seven Congress MPs and one CPI(M) MP were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after they tore papers and threw them at the Chair. Their suspension from the Parliament for remaining part of the Budget Session is likely to intensify the face-off with the Government over various issues, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi being denied an opportunity to cite an article based on excerpts from an unpublished 'memoir' of former Army chief MM Naravane on India-China conflict of 2020.

The Opposition has also raised concerns about American President Donald Trump announcing the India-US trade deal and the alleged demolition drive at the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. The suspended members are Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose (all Congress) and S Ventakesan (CPI-M).

As soon as the House met at 3 pm following multiple adjournments, Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, named the eight members. Subsequently, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju read out a resolution seeking suspension of the eight members for the remaining period of the Budget session.

Later in the day Rahul wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lodging his strong protest for disallowing him to speak in the House on a matter of national security and terming it a "blot" on our democracy.

Earlier, Rahul had authenticated a copy of an article in the Lok Sabha which cited former army chief MM Naravane's unpublished memoir, but it failed to end the impasse over the matter, leading to a brief adjournment. In his letter to Birla, Rahul Gandhi noted that while speaking on the Motion on the President's address on Monday, the Speaker had directed him to authenticate a magazine which he intended to refer to while raising the India-China conflict of 2020.

He said that as per long-standing convention, including repeated rulings of past Speakers, a member wishing to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents, which he did.

 He said as an impartial custodian of the House, it is the Speaker's Constitutional and Parliamentary responsibility to safeguard the rights of every member, including those of the Opposition. The right of the Leader of the Opposition and of

With the Congress leader insisting on raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Chair Tenneti moved on to other Speakers and asked Harish Balayogi of the TDP, an NDA constituent, to speak on the President's address after three opposition MPs refused to speak, showing solidarity with Gandhi.

Congress MPs staged a protest outside Parliament building against the suspension of party members. Later, Opposition MPs said the suspended members will continue to protest outside the House.