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Chair refuses to banish Congress members, asks government to bring motion

New Delhi, May 9

Amid repeated disruptions, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P.J. Kurien on Monday refused to invoke a rule to banish noisy Congress members, but suggested the government can bring in a motion if it wants to take action against the members for disrupting the house.

In the morning, Trinamool Congress member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy urged Kurien to invoke Rule 255, which asks a member to withdraw from the house for the day, against Congress members who had trooped near the chairman's podium shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During question hour, when Chairman M. Hamid Ansari was in the chair, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Bhupender Yadav stood to support Roy and urged the chairman to take action against the Congress members.

Ansari however left the decision to Kurien, who in the post-lunch session announced that Rule 255 can be invoked only against one or two members.

Roy also cited the example of the rule being applied against a group of MPs in 2010.

Kurien however said that on March 9, 2010, seven members were removed for the remaining part of the session, but it was under rule 256, and it required the government to move a motion.

As the ruckus continued in the upper house and Congress obstructed the taking up of the Appropriation and Finance bills, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi urged Kurien to do something.

Kurien said the government needs to bring a motion if it wants to take action against the Congress members.

"We are sensitive, we don't want to move a motion..." Naqvi said.

He added: "But as the situation is developing, we may be forced to do so."

The Rajya Sabha saw four adjournments in the pre-lunch sitting on Monday. It was adjourned till 3 p.m. again after the post-lunch session started at 2 p.m.