Cracking the whip on unruly MPs , Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has suspended 45 Lok Sabha members belonging to the TDP and the AIADMK since Wednesday after they created ruckus in the House and continuously disrupted proceedings for days.
Mahajan had suspended 24 AIADMK members on Wednesday for five consecutive sittings. A day later, she suspended 21 members of AIADMK and TDP and an unattached YSR Congress member. The action was taken under rule 374A of Lok Sabha which says that they cannot attend the remaining days of the session, which concludes on January 8.
While AIADMK has 37 members, the TDP has 15 in the lower house.
Action against such a large number of MPs is unusual. In February, 2014, the then Speaker Meira Kumar had suspended 18 MPs from Andhra Pradesh following bedlam in the House. Those suspended then were either supporting or opposing creation of Telangana.
Proceeding in Lok Sabha during the winter session that commenced on December 11 have been repeatedly stalled due to protests by AIADMK and TDP members over a proposed dam on river Cauvery and special state status to Andhra Pradesh respectively.
