The government will recommend strict action against
25 Lok Sabha MPs to Speaker Meira Kumar in a bid to get the Telangana bill
passed peacefully, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said after chaos
prevailed in the Lower House over the issue of separate statehood.
“The government, home ministry and the police will
take action in accordance with the directions of the Speaker,” the minister
said after an expelled Congress lawmaker used pepper spray in Lok Sabha. TDP MP
Venugopal Reddy was charged with brandishing a knife inside the House. He,
however, denied the allegation.
Terming the violent episode in Lok Sabha during the
introduction of the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill as a blot in the
history of Parliament, Nath said outside the House, “A group of 25 MPs cannot
hold the entire House hostage. We will recommend strictest possible action
against them.”
Despite the unprecedented ruckus where MPs had
fisticuffs, Nath sounded optimistic about the future of the bill. "We will
definitely push for its discussion and passage. The Speaker will have to decide
how to put the House in order during the discussion and voting."
The Congress leaders refused to accept that the
UPA's floor management failed to tackle the situation. Nath, flanked by his
deputy Rajeev Shukla, added that members always had the scope to vote the bill
out instead of resorting to violence.
The bill is likely to come up for discussion and
passing next week, after the passage of the Vote on Account on February 19. As
the Parliament session is slated to end on February 21, the government will
have a short window to pass the Telangana bill in both Houses. If not passed,
the Telangana bill will lapse at the end of the current Lok Sabha.
The Congress had earlier expelled six MPs for
bringing a no-confidence motion against the UPA government.
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