House functions due to proper discretion not strict rules:Speaker

Bhopal, Mar 12 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani said proper discretion and respect for parliamentary traditions, instead of strict rules, could help in preventing unpleasant incidents in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas.

Mr Rohani told UNI here that he frequently received suggestions that strict rules could help in maintaining the dignity of House.

However, he felt that respect for an institution or a tradition can be more useful for avoiding such incidents.

Describing aggressive reactions of legislators over matters concerning public welfare as nothing unnatural, he said members expressed their frustration in the House but sometimes crossed the limits of tolerance due to emotions. Bringing strict rules will not be appropriate in this regard, he said.

The statement comes in the wake of Dr Sunilam (SP) being assaulted by ruling party members in the assembly recently when he brandished wheat stalks in the House over crop loss to farmers due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm.

The assembly had suspended Congress members Satyadev Katare and Ramniwas Rawat besides Dr Sunilam but later revoked it.

Stating that a dignified reconciliation was reached after the three-hour-long bedlam in the assembly, the Speaker stressed on the need for pondering and introspection so that a repetition was avoided.

''The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has a glorious past and the tradition continues unbroken,'' he said.

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