Telangana MPs kicked out, decks clear for food bill in Parliament

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New Delhi: Setting the stage for the introduction of Food Secu­rity Bill in the Lok Sabha – which the government has been unable to do since early this week with anti-Telangana MPs stalling proceedings – Speaker Mei­ra Kumar on Friday ann­o­u­n­ced the suspension of 12 members (eight from the Congress, four from the TDP) for at least five sittings. They were demanding a rollback of the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
In the Rajya Sabha too, the Telugu Desam demanded the formation of a joint parliamentary committee to look into the Telangana issue.
The decision came a day after the government moved a motion in the Lok Sabha seeking the suspension of 10 MPs from And­hra Pradesh for disrupting the House since the beginning of the Monsoon Session on August 5.
The Speaker told the suspended MPs: “You may forthwith withdraw from the precincts of the House.” But the four TDP MPs chose to defy the Speaker’s order and remained squatting inside the House.
On Friday, though, quiet prevailed in the Lok Sabha in contrast to the uproar that erupted Thursday among Opposition ranks following the government’s move to suspend MPs. The four TDP MPs had been consistently trooping into the well of the House to protest against the decision on Telangana.
The Speaker named the 12 MPs soon after the House reconvened at 12.30 pm, after already being adjourned twice in the morning. All were named for causing “grave disorder” under Rule 374(A) of the Lok Sabha’s rules of procedure.