‘This is not a place to..’: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appeals to protesting MPs
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha protested against the issues of price rise and Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday urged the Opposition MPs protesting against the price rise and Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike to take part in the discussion happening in the House saying that he does not want to take action against any member.
Requesting the Opposition leaders to settle down and stop sloganeering in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said, “This is your Parliament. You can discuss issues and express support or dissent but this is not a place to bring placards and protest… I don’t want to take action against any member.” He added that the citizens of India don’t want to see placards in the hands of “honourable” leaders and urged them to maintain the sanctity of the House.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been marred with protests by Opposition MPs since the beginning of the monsoon session. Opposition party MPs regularly submit adjournment motions in the Lok Sabha to discuss the Centre’s recent move to impose 5% GST on pre-packed and pre-labelled food grains, curd, butter milk etc.
Also Read |19 MPs suspended from Rajya Sabha as opposition protest continues
On Monday, Speaker Om Birla after repeated warnings to the protesting lawmakers suspended four Congress MPs- Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas. Opposition leaders were creating a ruckus in the well of the Lower House and causing disruption during Question Hour.
On Tuesday, the suspended MPs held a protest on the Parliament premises and said that the suspension amounted to “murder of democracy”. Showing solidarity with the four Congress MPs, Opposition leaders from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) joined them in their protest.