Pepper spray, violence in Parliament: A new low in the Lok Sabha

The conduct of MPs in the Lok Sabha on Thursday marked a new negative threshold. The violence that was seen, including the use of pepper spray, is a rude reminder that the worst aspects of behaviour of legislators in the states were exceeded by their counterparts in Parliament.

Read here: T-Bill lost in pepper spray cloud

It was frankly hard to distinguish the hallowed chamber of the House of the People from a rowdy scene on the streets. Such was the tension that Speaker Meira Kumar herself appeared to be in need of physical protection.

The complete collapse of order, and the jettisoning of decorum, is traceable to the intense emotional backlash that has resulted from the political circumstances unleashed by the move to create the new state of Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh. MPs from both sides of the divide in that state contributed to the unedifying display.

None of this, however, absolves MPs of their responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner that can be emulated by the lower tiers of representative democracy.

Congress, Telugu Desam, and YSR Congress MPs were among those suspended for a period of five working days by the Speaker, and even this can be rescinded if the House is so inclined. In the dying days of the 15th Lok Sabha, this minor penalty seems academic.

It is not unlikely that many who resorted to violent and threatening behaviour will be re-elected to the House in the upcoming election. Clearly, the erring MPs were trying to impress their voters back home with their commitment to the cause they are espousing. But it is regrettable that the top guns of the government and the ruling Congress were not on the scene to help calm tempers.

Much has been said over the years about MPs of Opposition parties who frequently disrupt parliamentary proceedings and thwart the business of state from being conducted. But for some time now, it is mainly sections of the Treasury benches that have been responsible for the ungainly scenes in India’s Parliament following the government’s seeming resolve to go ahead with the creation of  Telangana.

Six were expelled earlier this week for seeking to move a motion of no confidence against their own government (and today it was one of them who created the most trouble).

But it is not just MPs. Four ministers of the Manmohan Singh government from the Seemandhra region protested in the Well of the House on Wednesday against the decision to create the new state of Telangana.

By any yardstick, this is preposterous, and the ministers in question have invited their dismissal from the government if only to uphold a principle, just as some of their colleagues were earlier served expulsion notices to preserve form.