No significant business could be transacted in both Houses of Parliament on Friday, as Seemandhra MPs continued to disrupt proceedings in protest against division of the State. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not speak on the missing coal files in the Rajya Sabha and the Food Security Bill could not be taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha.
The Telangana issue has virtually led to a washout of half of the Monsoon session. However, the Lok Sabha showed signs of taking up Food Security and Land Acquisition bills with Speaker Meira Kumar finally suspending 12 protesting Seemandhra MPs for disrupting the proceedings since the session began on August 5.
Out of the 12 MPs, 8 are from the ruling Congress and 4 from the TDP. The Speaker named the MPs under Rule 374 (A) and asked them to withdraw from the precincts of the House. The MPs are: Sai Prathap, Nimalla Kistappa, Anantha Venkatarami Reddy, L Rajagopal, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Modugula Venugopala Reddy, V Arun Kumar, Konakalla Narayana Rao, GV Harsha Kumar, Bapi Raju Kanumuru, Sabbam Hari and Dr N Sivaprasad.
The Rule deals with suspension of 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 persistently and wilfully obstructing its business by shouting slogans.” After being named by the Speaker, the member is automatically suspended for five consecutive sittings or the remainder of the session, whichever is less.
However, even after suspension, the TDP MPs sat in the well of the House forcing the Speaker to adjourn it for the day. The Lok Sabha will take up the Food Bill for discussion on Monday.
The government intends to extend the session till September 5 from August 30 when it is supposed to end. This, it hopes, will help clear stalled legislative business. The Lok Sabha will also sit on Saturday to clear important pending bills.
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