8 Oppn MPs suspended for ‘unruly behaviour’
RS chairman refuses no-trust motion against dy chairman
A day after Rajya Sabha witnessed unruly scenes with some members tearing papers, climbing on tables, shouting slogans and throwing the rule book at the Chair, eight members of Opposition parties were on Monday suspended for their “unruly behaviuor” for the remainder of the monsoon session.
Commenting on their suspension, Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said that some members “grossly crossed all barriers of all parliamentary decorum and etiquettes… thereby bringing down the prestige of the House.”
Opposition members say that the chaos ensued when the Chair did not allow division of votes on the farm Bills, which was passed by voice vote.
Those suspended from the Upper House include TMC’s Derek O Brien and Dola Sen, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, Congress’ Rajiv Satav, Ripun Bora and Syed Nazir Hussain, CPI(M)’s K.K. Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem.
Opposition parties hit out at the government over the suspension of eight Rajya Sabha MPs. After the House adjourned for the day, suspended members sat on “indefinite” dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament premises. Carrying pillows and blankets at the protest site, the MPs said “we will not budge”.
“Suspension won’t silence us. We will stand with farmers in their fight. The (Rajya Sabha) deputy chairman throttled parliamentary procedures yesterday,” Mr Kareem said.
AAP’s Sanjay Singh said, “Wake up crores of farmers of the country! The BJP government has mortgaged your life to AdaniAmbani, wake up and oppose this black law. We are on an agitation in Parliament, you should agitate outside. The BJP has passed a black law against farmers.”
Mr Naidu also rejected the no-confidence motion moved by 47 members from the Opposition benches against deputy chairman Harivansh, who was presiding when the ruckus over farm Bills took place on Sunday, citing Rajya Sabha rules and precedents. He said that he went through the proceedings on Sunday in the light of the allegations made against the deputy chairman.