A file photo of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi (PTI)
The Centre on Thursday recommended suspending the Lok Sabha membership of Congress parliamentarian Gaurav Gogoi for the term after the Assam MP was among seven party members pulled up speaker Om Birla for gross misconduct earlier in the day.
The suspension order invited a strong response from Gogoi, who said in a tweet that he didn't mind being suspended as long as last week's riots in Delhi were discussed in Lok Sabha.
Seven Congress MPs, namely Gaurav Gogoi, TN Pratapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Manickam Tagore, Benny Behnan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla, were suspended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the wake of strong protest by the grand old party leaders over last week's violence in the national capital that left at least 48 persons dead.
The Congress has been disrupting the house as they are demanding the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sounded combative when he termed the suspension as a "decision by the government".
"This is not the Speaker's decision but a decision taken by the government. We will not be bowing down to this suspension," he said.
He alleged that the government was playing 'revenge politics' in order to avoid discussion on Delhi violence.
"Suspension attempt (is) to weaken us. (The) govt fears discussion on Delhi riots in Parliament," Chowdhury was quoted as saying by PTI.
Meanwhile, the BJP has welcomed the decision to suspend "unruly" Congress MPs.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said BJP has requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to set up a panel to look into "indiscipline" by Congress members.
"Snatching papers from the Speaker's table is utmost disrespect to the Chair. We condemn this," he told reporters.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the "unruly" behaviour of the Congress MPs was "unprecedented", and it would have shocked the country's founding fathers.
"We welcome the decision to suspend the unruly Congress members," he said. He was quoted by PTI.
(With PTI inputs)
