Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani on Wednesday announced the termination of membership of two Congress MLAs Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi and Kalpana Parulekar for allegedly misbehaving with MLA Gyan Singh, who was chairing the House yesterday.
The Speaker announced the termination after the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra moved a proposal in this regard, which was approved through a voice vote.
Yesterday, Chaturvedi and Parulekar had tried to intervene in the proceedings by moving a no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The House proceedings were being conducted by Gyan Singh, who is first member on the Speaker`s panel. When Gyan Singh did not pay heed to their demands, the two MLAs had climbed up the podium and virtually forced him to leave the Chair.
However, the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh termed today`s move of membership termination as "completely illegal" as the MLAs had not been served mandatory notices in this regard earlier.
"The manner in which the memberships of two members was terminated, only shows the dictatorial attitude of the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh," Ajay told reporters.
At the most, the Speaker should have suspended the two MLAs, instead of terminating their memberships in this manner, he said.
The membership of some MLAs had been terminated in the past, but the action was taken only after sending them proper notices, he added.
As the House assembled for the day, Congress members persisted with their demand for a debate on the issue of corruption, following which, the Speaker adjourned the house for an hour.
Later, when the House re-assembled, the Speaker, after transacting the listed business of the House without any discussion amid uproarious scenes, announced the termination of the membership and served a breach of privilege notice on seven other Congress MLAs and adjourned the House sine die.
PTI
