Women MP “manhandled” in the Lok Sabha After Clash With Marshals
NEW DELHI : Congress members clashed with Lok Sabha Marshals today after Speaker Om Birla ordered the forcible removal of two Congress MPs amid vociferous protests by the opposition over the chaotic situation in Maharashtra.
The fracas led to the Lok Sabha being adjourned till tomorrow. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who alleged that women members of her party had been manhandled by security personnel.
The Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, made similar allegations.
“We have never experienced this inside parliament. We will be waiting to see what action is been taken against responsible people,” he said. Chowdhury has alleged that women parliamentarians were “manhandled” in the Lok Sabha when they were protesting in the Well of the House over the Maharashtra government formation.
Congress members jostled with the marshals in the Lok Sabha when they stormed the Well of the House carrying placards, leading to adjournment of Parliament proceedings. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till 2pm amid vociferous protests by Congress MPs over the political situation in Maharashtra. 
The MPs held placards and raised slogans against the BJP, buoyed by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s statements that “democracy has been murdered” in Maharashtra.
The Congress held a meeting at Sonia Gandhi’s residence before the start of the session to fine-tune its strategy for today. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K Suresh, KC Venugopal, among others were present at the meeting held at Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence.The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Maharashtra political situation.
Government formation in Maharashtra has come under the Supreme Court’s scrutiny with the Centre being asked to produce before the court on Monday morning the letters of the Governor inviting Fadnavis as well as the communication of the BJP leader staking his claim.
After Fadnavis returned as the chief minister on Saturday, the Shiv Sena claimed that the Sena-NCP-Congress combine has a support of 165 MLAs and can comfortably prove its majority in the Assembly.
The BJP has claimed that Fadnavis had the support of 170 MLAs. The majority mark in a House of 288 is 145.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Pralhad Joshi countered these claims in their meeting with the Speaker and demanded strict action against both parliamentarians. “The House cannot be place of unruly behaviour. All parties should maintain sanctity and great traditions of Lok Sabha,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the incident.
Earlier today a group of Congress MPs stormed the Well of the Lok Sabha and approached Speaker Om Birla carrying banners and chanting slogans that demanded “murder of democracy” in Maharashtra be stopped. Mr Birla, attempting to restore order, directed the removal of the banners and TN Prathapan and Hibi Eden.
Congress MPs refused to do so and protested their colleagues’ removal, leading to clashes with Lok Sabha marshals. In the scuffle that followed two women Congress MPs – Tamil Nadu’s Jothimani and Kerala’s Ramya Haridas – were allegedly manhandled.”It is sad that Ramya Haridas and me were manhandled, we have lodged complaint with the speaker,” Jothimani told reporters.
Congress MP Hibi Eden was one of two members removed from the Lok Sabha.Hibi Eden, also from Kerala, said the Congress had raised “a very genuine issue and protested in democratic manner”.
“Unfortunately we were taken out by Marshals who tried to push us forcefully. They tried to get banners from us and our colleagues tried to resist it. Our women colleagues were manhandled too. We’ve filed complaint with the Speaker,” Mr Eden said.
Shortly before the Lok Sabha was adjourned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that although he wanted to question the centre over the Maharashtra issue, “it doesn’t make any sense” to do so.
Earlier Mrs Gandhi led a large gathering of Congress leaders and party workers in a protest outside parliament building. Standing in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, protesters carried banners and shouted slogans like “Modi government, shame shame”.This is the first time a session of the 17th Lok Sabha has been adjourned due to ruckus in the House.
Meanwhile,The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned – till 2 pm – after similar protests by the Congress and other opposition parties, including the DMK and the Left, began shouting anti-BJP slogans.
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu refused the opposition demand to set aside scheduled business to discuss the Maharashtra issue. He further said that any debate on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s action or the early morning revocation of President’s Rule in the state could only happen after a motion was brought to that effect. No such motion has been moved, he said.
Bypassing the protests, the Chairman allowed Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to raise a point of order. Mr Naqvi alleged the Congress and other opposition parties were trying to “hijack” democracy in Maharashtra through “jugad”.
Chaos broke out in Maharashtra on Saturday morning after NCP leader Ajit Pawar appeared to break ranks with his uncle, party chief Sharad Pawar, and join the BJP in its audacious bid to form the government.
