Telangana issue rocks Parliament, 9 MPs suspended in Lok Sabha

Telangana issue rocked Parliament today with Lok Sabha Speaker Meria Kumar taking the unprecedented step of suspending nine members -- four of TDP and five Congress -- from Andhra Pradesh for creating "grave disorder".

In Rajya Sabha too, two TDP members were suspended for the day for disrupting the House on Telangana issue.

Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day at 2 PM by Deputy Speaker Karia Munda after agitating TDP members did not heed to his request to withdraw from the House forthwith and allow its smooth conduct.

Three of the four TDP members N Kristappa, M Venugopal Reddy and N Sivaprasad were still in the Well despite it being adjourned for the day. Leader of TDP in Lok Sabha Nama Nageshwar Rao was seen consulting opposition leaders including Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj.

When the House assembled for the day, Speaker Meira Kumar suspended TDP members Kristappa, Venugopal Reddy, K N Rao and Sivaprasad and five Congress MPs A Sai Pratap, Anantha Venkatrami Reddy, N Rajagopal, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and K Bapi Raju for continuously disrupting the proceedings.

The action was taken under Rule 374(A) of Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha. As per the Rule, a member after being named by the Speaker stands "automatically suspended from the service of the House for five consecutive sittings or the remainder of the session, whichever is less".

The Rule regarding automatic suspension is applied 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 willfully obstructing its business by shouting slogans".

This is the third instance of suspension of members in the present Lok Sabha. More than a year back, eight pro-Telangana Congress members had been suspended from the House for similar reasons.

This is also the first instance when the same members were named twice in the same session under the Rule which came into being over a decade back. The previous action was on August 23 for paralysing the House since the current session began on August 5.