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After Speaker suspends 6 unruly Congress MPs, Oppn to protest today

Angry Speaker acts after ruckus; Oppn will protest today

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LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan during the ruckus in the House on Monday
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Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended six Congress MPs for five days for "highly unbecoming" conduct and causing "grave disorder" by storming the Well and tearing and throwing papers during a ruckus over not being allowed to speak on cow vigilantism.

"The entire country should watch this...Show it, let them watch," an angry Speaker said. "I am sad and deeply hurt ... I did not prevent them from raising any issue. I told them they can raise the issue but only after the question hour," she later said.

In retaliation, leaders of Opposition parties decided at a meeting in Congress President Sonia Gandhi's chamber not to attend the House. They will hold a "dharna" under the Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Parliament House complex on Tuesday when Ram Nath Kovind will take oath of office as India's 14th President in the Central Hall.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar jumped to his feet for immediate action against the "unbecoming" act during the ruckus going on for 90 minutes since the start of the day's sitting.

After the lunch break, the Speaker cracked down on the six MPs, including former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav Gogoi, who was the first to grab papers from the House table and fling them towards the Speaker's podium. Others suspended with him for following suit are Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Sushmita Dev, K Suresh, Ranjeet Ranjan and MK Raghavan.

The Speaker asked all six to withdraw from the House immediately and then adjourned the House for 20 minutes. Sonia could be seen raising her hand and gesturing when the Speaker narrated the "highly unbecoming" conduct which took place despite the fact that Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had been allowed to speak during the zero hour. The entire Opposition trooped into the Well and no suspended MP withdrew when the House reassembled, forcing Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai to adjourn the House for the day.

Congress members had earlier objected and demanded action against BJP member Anurag Thakur for allegedly videographing on his phone their act of throwing papers in the air. They later alleged that Thakur had shown the video to the Speaker and yet she did not take action against him and rather used it to name and shame them.

Sonia remained in the House during the adjournment and for some 10 minutes even after it was shut for the day, talking to members of the Congress and other parties. Outside the House, Kharge said nobody would justify his party colleagues' act of tearing and throwing paper, but some members got agitated as the Opposition was not allowed to express itself.

During a brief mention allowed after rejection of his adjournment notice, Kharge said the people are terrorised by cow vigilantes, while the government has failed to take action. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi thrice called them "goondas" but no action was taken against them. Kharge even urged the Speaker to convert his notice into a call-attention one and let the PM and the Home Minister be in the House to respond.

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