Opposition MPs rush to the well of the Lok Sabha in protest after government passes a motion for suspending 11 Andhra Pradesh MPs
The government was today forced to retreat on its motion to suspend 11 Andhra Pradesh MPs including seven of its own, for disrupting Parliament with their protests against a new Telangana state, after a united Opposition refused to support it.
The row over suspending the MPs had crippled the Lok Sabha and forced it to adjourn midway at a time the government is desperate to pass key legislation including the Food Security Bill.
The protesting MPs, from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, have created a ruckus in the House every day since the session began and the motion for their suspension underscores the government's resolve to remove all bottlenecks - including its own MPs - that are holding up important legislation.
But the opposition, led by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, refused to support it.
"The government should rein in its own members, instead of trying to fire from our shoulder," said BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Sources now say the government will not push for suspending the MPs.
The Congress-led government, racing against time to get its important Bills through, has also extended the Monsoon session by a week and, in a major concession to the opposition, said that the Prime Minister will intervene tomorrow in a discussion on missing files relating to coal block allocations.
The BJP has made clear that till the PM speaks in Parliament, it will not let the Houses run. It alleges that some of the missing files are from when he held charge of the coal ministry.
The Congress has already launched the food scheme - which it sees as a major gamechanger in the general elections 2014 and crucial Assembly elections in November - in some poll-bound states that it rules. But if Parliament does not pass the bill that will make it law in this session, it will lapse.