New Delhi [India], February 3 : Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition following the suspension of eight Lok Sabha MPs, accusing them of "crossing all limits of decorum". He criticised the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, over his conduct in the lower house.
He condemned the "reprehensible" behaviour of Congress members, including allegedly climbing onto tables, claiming the opposition has failed to respect house rules and is intentionally creating excuses to avoid parliamentary debate.
"It's beyond my comprehension that you are the Leader of Opposition, and how many times do you need to be told that when the Speaker has said something, you must follow their rules? What kind of democracy are you expecting?" Paswan, president of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), told reporters here.
He alleged that Congress MPs had "crossed all limits" of acceptable conduct inside the House.
"You crossed all limits of decorum in the House; the only thing left was for you to put your feet on the Speaker's chair, given the way the Congress MPs behaved. The House runs according to rules. They themselves don't want a debate. Before every session, they find or create some excuse and then disrupt the House. They are happy when the House is adjourned. They come up with a new excuse every day. Coming all the way to the Speaker's chair, climbing onto the table to reach the chair, this is reprehensible," Paswan added.
Meanwhile, eight opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for the remainder of the budget session for violating rules and "throwing papers on the chair" following uproar in the House over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's insistence on mentioning a specific reference to the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
The House, which witnessed two adjournments earlier in the day, resumed proceedings at 3 pm. Rahul Gandhi stated that he would not quote from any magazine article or unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane, but would instead make remarks on Chinese actions during the Kailash Range standoff and the government's response.
The government, however, maintained that Rahul Gandhi could not quote from an unpublished memoir or a magazine article based on it. The Chair directed him to resume his speech on the motion of thanks to the President's Address and adhere to the ruling already given.
As Rahul Gandhi continued to press his point, the Chair called upon other members to speak on the motion of thanks. The opposition members resorted to sloganeering, which intensified after a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member began his speech. Amid the uproar, some members were seen throwing papers, forcing the House to adjourn.
When the House resumed its proceedings, BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, named eight opposition members.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved the motion for suspension of the eight members for the remainder of the budget session for "violating rules and throwing papers on the chair." The motion was adopted by the House amid protests from the opposition members.
The suspended MPs include Congress members Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Dean Kuriakose, along with CPI (M) MP S Venkatesan.
The Lok Sabha had witnessed repeated adjournments on Monday as well over the stalemate surrounding Rahul Gandhi's attempts to make references to the magazine article.
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