NEW DELHI, March 9 (IANS) - Seven Opposition members of the Rajya Sabha, suspended for their unruly behaviour, were physically evicted from the House today after they continued to squat on the floor for more than three hours.
When the House reassembled at 3 pm after three adjournments, the seven MPs belonging to the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) continued shouting slogans against the Women's Reservation Bill, even as Chairman Hamid Ansari called on leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley (BJP) to speak.
As nothing could be heard in the din, Ansari, egged on by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), called on the marshals to evict the seven MPs.
As close to 50 marshals attempted to do so, the expelled members violently resisted and the marshals eventually had to physically carry them out.
Amid all the chaos, Ansari put the Bill to vote, a move vociferously protested by the BJP that wanted a debate.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present in the House through all this.
Order was eventually restored after about half-an-hour and Jaitley was allowed to speak. He wholeheartedly supported what he termed "one of the most progressive pieces of legislation that has been brought".
Earlier, furious at the continuous disruptions over the Women's Reservation Bill, Ansari suspended the seven Opposition MPs for the remaining part of the session.
Those suspended are SP's Kamal Akhtar, Veerpal Singh Yadav, Amir Alam Khan and Nand Kishore Yadav, JD-U's Ejaz Ali, LJP's Sabir Ali and RJD's Subhash Prasad Yadav.
On Monday, SP's Nand Kishore Yadav tried to climb up to the Chairman's desk but was prevented by a marshal. Subhash Yadav of RJD attempted to assault the parliament secretary general seated below the podium. This happened when Ansari tried to move the women's Bill for consideration.
Subhash Yadav is RJD chief Lalu Prasad's brother-in-law.
There were unprecedented scenes with the MPs opposed to the Bill tearing up the document and hurling the pieces at Ansari.
