Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspends six Congress MPs

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev, Ranjeet Ranjan, Adhir Choudhary, K Suresh and M K Raghavan for five days for disrupting the proceedings of the House.

The members raised slogans in the Well of the House during Zero Hour and tore and threw papers towards the Speaker’s chair.

The Lok Sabha had been off to a stormy start since morning, with leader of the Congress legislative party Mallikarjuna Kharge demanding a discussion on mob lynchings. The party had moved an adjournment motion for the same but it was denied.

As Opposition members protested loudly, Ms. Mahajan said she would like too see “how much indiscipline was possible.”

She asked Mr Kharge to tender a notice for a discussion on gau rakshaks and lynching. Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy also demanded a discussion on the issue.

Through the din, Treasury members Meenakshi Lekhi and Nishikant Dubey raised certain disclosures on the Bofors gun deal by a television channel.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar reiterated the government’s position put on record in the Rajya Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that the government condemned violence in the name of cow and vigilantism attached to it.

Opposition members, however, demanded a discussion on the issue. Some papers were torn and thrown towards the Well of the House.

At this, Speaker Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 p.m. In the interim, she suspended the six MPs.

This is not the first time Ms. Mahajan is suspending Opposition members. In July 2015, she suspended 25 Congress MPs for five days for causing disruption.