Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, hugely upset over the conduct of parliamentarians in the house since Monday, refused to return to the lower house of parliament today despite an appeal by a group of MPs representing all parties.
This is the third straight day that Mr Birla, 57, has stayed away from chairing proceedings in the Lok Sabha. He has been working from his chambers since Tuesday.
Today, floor leaders of all parties in the Lok Sabha, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, met Mr Birla at his office and appealed to him to return to the house. The speaker told the leaders that he will return only after all members maintain discipline and decide on how the session can be conducted smoothly.
Mr Birla has stayed away from the Lok Sabha since Tuesday as according to sources, he is anguished that some members are not adhering to the norms and procedures of the house.
There was intense uproar in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday over the opposition's demands for a discussion on the violence in Delhi that has left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Mr Birla had declared that a discussion on the subject will held, only after Holi, on March 11.
The speaker's decision to push the discussion after Holi enraged the members who threw leaflets and paper balls at the chair. Others rushed to the well of the house to protest.
The tug-of-war on the issue had ensured repeated adjournments, allowing little time for any other business since parliament reconvened for the second half of the budget session.
Seven Congress MPs have been suspended from the rest of the budget session for the uproar. Today, the opposition said the decision to suspend them should be reversed as the "punishment" was "disproportionate". The Lok Sabha has also decided to form a committee to look into the incidents in the house this week . The speaker will head this committee.
The suspended members are Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Benny Behananm, Manickam Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
"Such behaviour should not be displayed in the house. Earlier, inappropriate words were said against the Prime Minister and Amit Shah-ji in the house but we did not do anything. The government doesn't want to keep any MP outside parliament. But, what happened yesterday, never happened in the 70 years of independent India," Pralhad Joshi said, in a reply to Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
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