Speaker takes serious view of unruly scenes, says not in favour of adjournments

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has taken a serious view of the unruly episode which took place on the floor of the House on Monday when Congress members clashed with marshals after two of them were asked to leave the House for the day for not heeding to the directions of the chair to remove a big banner, sources said.

The Speaker, they said, was hurt by the happenings in the Lok Sabha and made it clear that such behaviour was not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

Senior leaders of different parties met the Speaker in his chamber where they were asked to cooperate to ensure the smooth operation of the House.

The House saw three adjournments during the day after ruckus in the morning over the government formation in Maharashtra.

The sources said that Speaker is keen that the House follows the laid down procedure and members raise issues without impacting the dignity of the House. They said that action could be taken against unruly members and it may not extend to days, weeks or months but could even extend to the tenure of the House.

A "line of action" is likely to be drawn over the unruly behaviour of members. They said those who seek to justify sloganeering and unruly scenes by citing incidents of the past should understand that such tactics will not work.

The sources said that such tactics were wrong in the past too as the House should not be disturbed by members from any side and unruly behaviour will not be tolerated.

Sources also said that none of the members were manhandled by the marshals of the House on Monday after they were called to take away two Congress MPs Hibi Eden and TN Prathapan who were named by Speaker earlier under Rule 373 which means they cannot take part in the day's proceedings.

The Speaker named them after they did not heed his repeated calls to remove a big banner they were carrying. Speaker Om Birla has said that he does not want the House to have a forced adjournment.

This is the first time in the 17th Lok Sabha that the House was adjourned.

"I never want to adjourn the House," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )