Ruckus in LS on motion to suspend Andhra MPs

High drama was witnessed in Lok Sabha on Thursday as an exasperated government brought a motion to suspend 11 members from Andhra Pradesh, including seven from Congress, for protesting over Telangana issue, but an aggressive opposition scuttled the move.

Hell broke loose as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath moved a motion to suspend seven Congress and four Telugu Desam Party members for "disturbing the proceedings regularly" since the beginning of the Monsoon session from August 5.

Moving the motion, Nath said, "Unfortunately the House has not been able to function since the beginning of this session in light of the protests by these members."

Nath brought the motion as TDP members were in the Well protesting division of Andhra Pradesh, repeating the scenes witnessed ever since the session began.

Immediately, members of almost the entire opposition were on their feet, vociferously protesting the motion.

Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) stormed the Well as several members angrily shouted "no, no" in disapproval of the motion.

N Sivaprasad, an agitating TDP member who was in the Well and is among those named by Nath, took out a whip while his party colleague M Venugopala Reddy tried to pull down microphones on the Speaker's podium.

Later, a Congress member who was among those named also stormed the Well along with his agitating party colleagues. He too tried to pull down the microphones. However, alert Lok Sabha staff prevented it.

In the midst of ruckus, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House at around 12:15 pm for nearly 30 minutes.

When the House reassembled, it was adjourned for the day as commotion continued.

In the process, consideration of the much-touted Food Security Bill, slated to be taken up today, was again scuttled. The Land Acquisition Bill, another crucial legislation was also listed on the day's agenda.