The Lok Sabha witnessed a brief scuffle between Congress members and House marshals on Monday after Speaker Om Birla ordered two male MPs escorted out for unruly conduct.
The Congress later alleged the marshals had “manhandled” two women members during the fracas, which took place minutes after the House had assembled for the day.
The Maharashtra controversy had raised the temperatures from the outset, with Rahul Gandhi refusing to ask questions citing the “murder of democracy” in the western state and the Opposition creating bedlam.
The melee forced the Speaker to adjourn Question Hour. The House saw two more adjournments and closed without having conducted any business other than the quick introduction of two bills.
Members of the Congress and some other Opposition parties had rushed to the well of the House, waving placards saying “Stop murder of democracy” and chanting “Modi government, shame, shame”, immediately after the House sat at 11am.
Amid the din, the Speaker called out Rahul’s name as the first question (No. 101), relating to “hostels for ST (Scheduled Tribe) girls and boys”, was listed against his name.
“Speaker Sir, I had come here today to ask questions but it’s meaningless now since democracy has been murdered in Maharashtra,” Rahul rose and said, refusing to ask supplementary questions. His party colleagues continued protesting in the well.
Birla then pointed at two Congress members whose placards were blocking his view.
“I’m calling you by your names. Hibi Eden and Prathapan, put down the placards,” Birla said. “I will get you out of the House.”
He repeated his warning and then ordered their removal. “Under Rule 373, these two members should be escorted out of the House,” an angry Speaker said. “In dono sadasyon ko bahar nikalo (Get these two members out).”
As the marshals approached Eden and T.N. Prathapan, both MPs from Kerala, a scuffle broke out. Eden, Prathapan and several other Congress members pushed and shoved the marshals, who tried to snatch their placards and remove them from the House.
Two treasury bench members scrambled to defuse the situation. Amid the ruckus, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon. Eden and Prathapan walked out with the rest of the members and did not return for the rest of the day.
At noon, the House was again adjourned till 2pm and after that for the day.
Outside Parliament, the government and the Congress duelled over the developments while the Speaker said unruly behaviour “won’t be tolerated”.
Led by party president Sonia Gandhi, the Congress protested in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on Parliament premises. It claimed that two women MPs of the party had been “manhandled” by the marshals and demanded action.
“It is sad that Ramya Haridas (MP from Kerala) and I were manhandled by the marshals. We have lodged a complaint with the Speaker,” Tamil Nadu MP Jothimani said.
Adhir Chowdhury, the Congress’s leader in the House, told reporters: “Security personnel manhandled our women parliamentarians. We have never experienced this inside Parliament. We will be waiting to see what action is taken against the people responsible.”
Eden said: “We were protesting peacefully but the marshals tried to take us out forcibly, which was resisted by our colleagues. Our women members were manhandled.”
Speaker Birla told reporters: “I’m hurt by whatever happened in the House today. It is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.”
Sources said the Speaker was “very upset” and could take stern action against the two Congress MPs, such as suspending them for the rest of the session. A BJP team is learnt to have met the Speaker and demanded tough punishment for Eden and Prathapan.
“The Lok Sabha is a place for debate and discussion; it cannot be converted into a place for unruly behaviour,” law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. “Action will be taken by the Speaker.”
SPG bill
At 2pm, amid the continuing Opposition ruckus in the Lok Sabha, the government introduced the SPG (Amendment) Bill that takes former Prime Ministers and their families out of the ambit of SPG protection. Recently, the government had downgraded the security of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from SPG to Z-plus.
The bill had not been listed for the day but the Congress’s protests were swept aside. Home minister Amit Shah was in the House watching his junior G. Kishan Reddy introduce it.
In the Rajya Sabha, a Congress-led Opposition demanded the suspension of business to discuss Maharashtra, their protests paralysing the House.
Chairperson M. Venkaiah Naidu disallowed any discussion on Maharashtra on the ground that the matter was before the courts and that the Opposition had not moved any substantive motion, a requirement for discussing the conduct of people in high positions.
Naidu, however, allowed minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to speak for some time on the Maharashtra situation.
“The (poll) verdict is in favour of the BJP and its (former) alliance. But they (the Opposition) need to understand that this machination cannot be accepted,” Naqvi said.
The House was adjourned till 2pm, and later adjourned again for the day.
