Suspension of 8 Lok Sabha MPs revoked; Speaker Birla says no more display of banners, posters
New Delhi (PTI): The Lok Sabha on Tuesday revoked with immediate effect the suspension of eight opposition members, who were barred from the House on February 3 for "unruly" behaviour, with Speaker Om Birla stressing that there should be no display of placards, posters, photos or AI-generated images inside the House or in the Parliament complex.
Congress member K Suresh requested the House to consider the revocation of the eight opposition members, saying whatever had happened in the House was regrettable, and that his party was ready to cooperate in the smooth functioning of the House.
Following the submissions by several opposition members, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said there was a need to draw a ‘Laxman Rekha’ for the smooth functioning of the House, which both treasury and opposition benches agreed to.
Speaker Birla said there is a need to ensure that no placards, posters, photos or AI-generated images are displayed in the House or inside the Parliament complex.
Birla said that everyone is of the opinion that proceedings in the Parliament of the world's largest democracy should be smooth, and everyone should cooperate.
Rijiju then moved a motion to remove the suspension of seven Congress MPs and one CPI-M member, which was adopted by a voice vote.
The suspended MPs were Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose of the Congress, and S Ventakesan of the CPI(M).
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The eight MPs were suspended on February 3 for “unruly” behaviour following a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha in the first half of the ongoing Budget session.
They were suspended for the entire duration of the Budget session scheduled to conclude on April 2.
Earlier, after Suresh's submission, Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav supported the move, saying his party was ready to cooperate in maintaining the highest standards of Parliament.
“I want to assure the House that we will not do anything that hurts the dignity of the House. But the ruling alliance members should also behave properly,” Yadav said, taking the name of BJP's Nishikant Dubey, whom he asked to “correct himself”.
Dubey immediately refuted Yadav, saying that during his 17 years of Parliamentary career, he has not done anything that lowered the dignity of the House.
The BJP MP also demanded an apology from the Samajwadi Party MP for his remarks.
NCP leader Supriya Sule said efforts should be made by both ruling and opposition members so that the House functions smoothly.
“No one should make any personal comments on anyone. We (opposition) should respect the treasury benches, which should also respect the opposition. There should be a ‘Laxman Rekha’, which no one should breach,” she said.
JD-U leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the House should function smoothly and both sides should cooperate.
Rijiju said the ruling alliance members will not break rules, nor have they ever broken rules in the past.
"A ‘Laxman Rekha’ should be drawn. People did not elect us to disrupt House proceedings or stage protests. The House should function smoothly with everyone's cooperation," Rijiju said.
Suresh said that since Monday, the opposition members have not shown any placards or banners, and that they are ready to cooperate in the proper functioning of the House.
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Trump vows to ‘finish job’, thanks Middle East allies; urges countries to show courage, buy US oil
Says US will ‘hit Iran extremely hard’ over next 2-3 weeks, threatens power plants
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is close to achieving its objectives in Iran, while thanking key allies in the Middle East for their support.
“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” Trump said, expressing appreciation to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. “They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form,” he added.
Trump claimed that US military operations against Iran have delivered major results over the past month. Referring to “Operation Epic Fury”, he said American forces had carried out “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.
He said Iran’s naval and air capabilities had been severely weakened and its ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced. “Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces – very few of them left,” he said.
The US president also repeated his criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal signed under former President Barack Obama, claiming it would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Trump said the US military campaign aims to weaken Iran’s ability to support proxy groups and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily,” he said, adding that key strategic objectives are “nearing completion”.
In a separate remark, Trump urged countries dependent on Gulf oil to take action and suggested they should rely more on American energy supplies. He called on them to show “delayed courage” and secure the Strait of Hormuz, which has been affected by the ongoing conflict.
“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it,” he said, adding that the United States has sufficient oil resources.
The remarks come as tensions remain high in the region, with continued military exchanges and growing concerns over global energy supplies.
“We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president said.
We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he added.
He further added that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.
He’s also warned Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.
“If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.
