Law should provide for expulsion for rushing into well:Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today favoured a law providing for expulsion without the need of a ruling from the presiding officer, if MPs or members of state legislature rush into the well of the house.
"They should be expelled suo moto. There should be a rule that if they walk into the well then they should be expelled," said Mahajan, addressing a press conference after conclusion of the fifth India Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference here.
Mahajan also said that rather than the presiding officer imposing punishment, the MPs or MLAs themselves should know their duty not to disrupt the House.

"Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha is not a school or college. They are public representatives. They have to work for a public cause. They know their duty well," she said.
Responding to the question whether a severely shrunken opposition (as in the current Lok Sabha or the new Assembly in Delhi) is unhealthy for the parliamentary democracy, the Speaker said the strength should not be measured in number.
"The strength of opposition should not be counted on its number. There can be only two-three members and (yet) they can provide a formidable opposition by studying the matter before coming to the House. It all depends on how effectively they present their viewpoint in the House," she said.

She also noted that a united opposition (despite existence of several opposition parties) has been a trend in the legislatures across the country.