Regaining entry to the Lok Sabha after five days, the 25 suspended Congress MPs picked up from where they had left off. While the sight of them trooping into the well with placards has been familiar all through the monsoon session, they grabbed more attention with a set of new placards and slogans. So while retaining “Pradhan Mantri hosh mein aao”, they came up also with “Phenku sarkar hai hai”, and “Twitter sarkar hai hai”. The placards, though, were scaled down in size, with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan having decried the use of large placards that had blocked her chair and the treasury benches from TV cameras last week. “Modigate bhrashtachar ke diggaj, maun Modi jawab do,” said a placard held by Sushmita Dev. The placard had a photograph in the middle of Lalit Modi holding a cricket bat and flanked by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. “Vyapam ke is khooni khel mein, Shivraj ko bhejo jail mein,” declared a placard flashed by Gaurav Gogoi as he introduced at least a couple of new slogans — “Jumlabaazi nahin chahiye, nahin chahiye, nahin chahiye” and “Mauni baba shame shame”. “Modi baba sadan mein aao,” “Modi baba kahan gaye? Bhag gaye, bhag gaye,” were the slogans Rajeev Satav raised. Ranjeet Ranjan, again at the forefront of sloganeering in the well, carried a placard that stated, “48 mauton ke zimmedar kaun, Vyapam par PM aur CM maun.” All Congress MPs were wearing black armbands, except Sonia Gandhi. As the Deputy Speaker allowed zero hour to continue despite the relentless protest, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge intervened to seek an adjournment. “I want to bring to your kind notice, all our members were suspended under Rule 374A (on the ground) that they are bringing disorder. The House is not in order,” he said, adding that as per rules no transaction of business can take place when the House is not in order. “Then how is the chair allowing the other businesses? When we are in the well, we are suspended. When they are putting their views, you are saying that it is as per rule. There are other rules for us and there are other rules for them. Therefore, I would request since the House is not in order, you kindly adjourn the House or suspend the business,” Kharge added. To this, Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai replied, “Even when the House is not in order, I listen to you. Your party members are in the well. I allowed you to speak. I have to allow other members also to speak.” As the protest continued into zero hour in the afternoon, Sonia was seen engaged in a conversation with Trinamool Congress’s Sudip Bandopadhyay and partyman Jyotiraditya Scindia. After the House adjourned for the day, Trinamool leaders Sougata Roy and Sudip again walked up to Sonia. Scindia joined in again.
