New Delhi [India], February 3 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dilip Saikia on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of misleading the Lok Sabha by quoting unauthenticated documents and defended the suspension of eight Opposition MPs for "unruly behaviour" and disrespecting the Chair during proceedings.
Speaking to ANI, Saikia said, "Rahul Gandhi just wanted to mislead the House and the people of the country. He couldn't even authenticate if it was a valid document that he was quoting in the House. Today, the way some Congress MPs behaved was unruly. They insulted the Chair, and throwing papers at the Chair is not right. Under Rule 3742, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved a motion, and the Speaker of the House accepted the motion and suspended 8 MPs for this Session, 7 from Congress and 1 from CPI(M)..."
Meanwhile, eight opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for the remainder of the budget session for violating rules and "throwing papers on the chair" following uproar in the House over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's insistence on mentioning a specific reference to the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
The House, which witnessed two adjournments earlier in the day, resumed proceedings at 3 pm. Rahul Gandhi stated that he would not quote from any magazine article or unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane, but would instead make remarks on Chinese actions during the Kailash Range standoff and the government's response.
The government, however, maintained that Rahul Gandhi could not quote from an unpublished memoir or a magazine article based on it. The Chair directed him to resume his speech on the motion of thanks to the President's Address and adhere to the ruling already given.
As Rahul Gandhi continued to press his point, the Chair called upon other members to speak on the motion of thanks. Opposition members resorted to sloganeering, which intensified after a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member began his speech. Amid the uproar, some members were seen throwing papers, forcing the House to be adjourned.
When the House resumed its proceedings, BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, named eight opposition members.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved the motion for suspension of the eight members for the remainder of the budget session for "violating rules and throwing papers on the chair." The motion was adopted by the House amid protests from the opposition members.
The suspended MPs include Congress members Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Dean Kuriakose, along with CPI (M) MP S. Venkatesan.
The Lok Sabha had witnessed repeated adjournments on Monday as well over the stalemate surrounding Rahul Gandhi's attempts to make references to the magazine article.