NEW DELHI, Aug 3 - Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev were among 25 Congress Lok Sabha MPs suspended by the Speaker here this afternoon for disrupting the House.
In an unprecedented move, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 MPs for five consecutive sittings for disrupting the proceedings. The suspended leaders belonging to the Congress, had been protesting against the government over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam scams.
Among the suspended MPs are Sushmita Dev and Gaurav Gogoi, who have been charged with displaying placards in the Lok Sabha. The MPs, however, refused to vacate and protested in the Well of the House, forcing its adjournment for the day.
The Congress has 44 members in the Lok Sabha. The move is set to further intensify the logjam in the Parliament, which has not seen any business for the last 10 days. The Centre is even mulling a No Work, No Pay Bill to prevent disruption of the House.
As soon as the House met in the morning, Speaker Mahajan dismissed the adjournment motions moved by a host of opposition members, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal. Kharge protested against this, arguing, when the Speaker agreed that the issues raised were important, then why did she not allow for them to be taken up.
When the Speaker proceeded to take up the Question Hour, opposition members trooped near the Speaker�s podium and started shouting slogans like, �We want justice�. As the Question Hour proceeded, the Speaker asked the members, including Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev, not to raise placards in front of the ministers� faces.
