Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Govt Monday agreed to Opposition’s demand for revocation of the suspension of its eight MPs, who had been barred from the House for remainder of Budget session for their alleged unruly conduct in LS, and the House is expected to formalise their return Tuesday. Official sources said a consensus was reached at an all-party meeting chaired by Speaker Om Birla, in which it was also decided that no MP from either side will approach the other side in protest, tear papers or throw them towards the Chair, and climb the table of officials — this is primarily aimed at Opposition members who have been accused of resorting to these disruptive tactics. “All members would adhere to the established decorum and traditions of Parliament, and both sides would ensure such incidents are not repeated in future,” an official said of the consensus reached in the meeting. Eight opposition MPs — Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Amrinder Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Kiran Kumar Reddy and S Venkatesan — were suspended for the remainder of Budget session on Feb 3 for their “disruptive” conduct on amotion moved by Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju. Seven of them are from Congress and one from CPM. Revoking their suspension was a major demand of opposition parties amid continued protests in the House, which have led to occasional adjournments. Following the meeting, attended by K C Venugopal of Congress, Satabdi Roy of TMC and Dharmendra Yadav of Samajwadi Party, besides Rijiju and others, the Lok Sabha secretariat issued a bulletin reminding MPs against carrying banners, placards and sticks, among other prohibited items, to maintain decorum.
