Eight Congress MPs suspended from Lok Sabha for 'unruly' behaviour amid chaos; House adjourned for the day

Eight Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday by the Speaker in the Chair for 'unruly' behaviour after chaos over the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to mention an article based on excerpts from an unpublished 'memoir' of ex-Army chief M M Naravane.

The Opposition MPs were suspended for tearing papers and throwing them at the Chair.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved a resolution against Opposition MPs.

"I beg to note that this House has taken a serious note of the misconduct of Manickam Tagore, Amrinder Singh Raja Waring, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Prashant Padole, C. Kiran Reddy in utter disregard to the House and the authority of the Chair through reaching to the table of the Secretary General and other officers in the well of the House and throwing papers on the Chair and having been named by the Chair, resolve that the above-mentioned members may be suspended from the services of the House for the remainder of the session under Rule 3742."

The House passed the resolution by a voice vote.

Following that, Speaker in the Chair Dilip Saikia announced the suspension of Congress MPs.

Congress members, led by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest outside the Parliament building against suspension of party members from the Lok Sabha.

MPs who have been suspended

— Manickam Tagore

— C Kiran Kumar Reddy

— Prashant Padole

— Hibi Eden

— Dean Kuriakose

— S Venkateshan

— Gurjeet Singh Aujla

— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring

An hour before the MPs were suspended, Rahul Gandhi authenticated a copy of an article in the Lok Sabha which cited ex-army chief M M Naravane's unpublished ‘memoir’.

As soon as Gandhi was asked to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, he cited the Speaker's ruling of Monday and authenticated the copy of the article.

"I have authenticated it," he said.

To authenticate a document, a member has to submit a signed copy of it affirming that it is correct to the best of his knowledge.

Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the House, asked him to table it and said "we will examine it and get back".

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Speaker passed a ruling on the matter and after that Gandhi should not raise the issue repeatedly.

Gandhi insisted that he is the Leader of Opposition and takes objection to the term 'permission' when he has to speak.