Stop daily ruckus, Lok Sabha image is taking a hit, says Speaker

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed her displeasure over continuous disruption of the House for the seventh consecutive day and categorically told leaders of all parties that the image of Parliament is taking a hit due to the unruly behaviour of several lawmakers.

In a meeting with leaders of all parties, including the Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Mahajan said that the Lok Sabha is being seen as a place where only ruckus happens, where nothing can be asked or listened, sources said.

“It is not sending a good message outside. I have heard from people from abroad asking what is happening in the Indian Parliament,” she thundered on Tuesday after repeated disruption of proceedings in the House. “Parliament is for debate and discussion, but this is not the way. This session is very important and we all have to face elections next year. The government is ready for discussion. We have a responsibility. We have to maintain the standard of Parliament,” she had said.

Mahajan has called a meeting of the Rules Committee, headed by the speaker herself, to look into the matter.

The Rules Committee acts as an advisory body to the speaker for framing and amending rules for regulating and conducting the business in Lok Sabha. The committee considers matters of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha and can recommend necessary additions or changes to the rules. The committee has members from almost all parties, while Mr Tomar along with two ministers of state for parliamentary affairs — Vijay Goel and Arjun Ram Meghwal — are its special invitees.

The ongoing winter session, the last full-fledged session of the BJP-led NDA government, is witnessing continuous adjournment of the house over Rafale deal and other issues for the past seven days amid sloganeering and displaying of placards in the well of the house by the opposition members and heated arguments with treasury bench members.

The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal while accusing the government of lying before the Supreme Court on the matter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)