New Delhi: Unprecedented pandemonium marked by fisticuffs, pepper spraying and breaking of mike was on Thursday witnessed in Lok Sabha as the government introduced the controversial Telangana bill. The incident resulted in hospitalisation of three MPs following the ruckus over introduction of the controversial bill after which 18 MPs, 15 of them from Seemandhra, were suspended. The Lok Sabha developments drew widespread condemnation.
Hell broke loose in the House with members feeling suffocated and seen coughing after expelled Congress MP L Rajagopal resorted to spraying of pepper to prevent introduction of the bill that provides for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. “I am told that knives, pepper powder and other weapons were brought into the House,” said Kamal Nath, Union Minister. “It’s big blot on parliamentary democracy. I will recommend strongest possible action against the members to the Speaker,” he added.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar expressed anguish over the incidents saying it has "shamed the country and Parliament and called it a "blot". The controversy broke out over the status of the bill to divide Andhra Pradesh with BJP and six other opposition parties disputing the government's claim that it was introduced. In the afternoon, Meira Kumar cracked the whip and suspended 16 MPs, who are against division of Andhra Pradesh, for rest of the session following the scenes of pandemonium. Kumar named 18 members who were asked to withdraw from the House. Later, Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular in which the names of Suresh Kumar Shetkar (pro-Telangana) and K Bappi Raju (Seemandhra) were deleted. The suspended members cannot enter the House, inner lobby and galleries. They cannot participate in the meetings of Parliamentary Committees and cannot vote in committees during the suspension till February 20, the penultimate day of the 15h Lok Sabha.
The spray, generally used by women to fend off eve-teasers, was used to lethal effect in the Well of the House as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde introduced the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill amid vociferous protests by members from Seemandhra. The impact of the spray was such that an unspecified number of members were rushed to hospitals after at least four ambulances were pressed into service. Some members were seen coming out of the House with watery eyes and seemed to be suffocating.
The Well of the Lok Sabha turned into a battle ground as fisticuffs broke out between members from Seemandhra and others, including Raj Babbar, Azharuddin, Lal Singh (all Cong) and Saugata Roy (TMC), who wanted to prevent disruptions in the House. M Venugopal Reddy (TDP) first damaged a mike on the table of Secretary General and later snatched papers from the Speaker’s podium, while Rajagopal broke the glass on the table and used the pepper spray. The BJP and the CPI-M blamed the Congress for the chaos, saying it was not unable to rein in its own ministers and MPs. BJP leader L.K. Advani, one of India’s most experienced parliamentarians, described the events as “disgraceful”.
