Day two of the Winter Session of Parliament could be a washout after 12 Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for their ‘misconduct and unruly behaviour’ during the last day of the previous Monsoon session
Opposition leaders protest at Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament premises in New Delhi demanding revocation of suspension of 12 Opposition MPs of Rajya Sabha. ANI
The second day of the Winter Session of Parliament commenced with protests, with the government and the Opposition refusing to budge from its stand.
Scenes of chaos erupted in the Upper House of Parliament as Opposition leaders sought the revocation of the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.
On Monday, 12 opposition MPs of the Rajya Sabha, including Congress’ MP Chhaya Verma, Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi and TMC’s Dola Sen, were suspended for the remaining part of the winter session for their ‘misconduct and unruly behaviour’ during the last day of the Monsoon Session on 11 August.
The suspension is the biggest such action in the history of the Upper House. Previously in 2020, eight MPs – Derek O’Brien (TMC), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Rajeev Satav (Congress), KK Nagesh (CPI(M)), Syed Nasir Hussain (Congress), Ripun Bora (Congress), Dola Sen (TMC) and Elamaran Kareem of CPI(M) – were suspended which was the second-highest number.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that the suspension of the 12 MPs will not be revoked. “The members who had committed the sacrilege against the house have not shown remorse. So, I think the appeal by the Opposition [to revoke the suspensions] is not worth considering,” Naidu said.
“All procedures in the Rajya Sabha were done according to rules when 12 MPs were suspended on Monday,” he said.
“The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is empowered to take action and the House can take action,” Naidu said. “What happened yesterday was not the Chairman taking action, it was the House. A motion was moved. It was approved and it is final,” he said amid uproar by the Opposition.
Naidu’s comments came as Leader of the Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge asked Naidu how the decision could have been made based on what happened in the previous session.
“We came to your office to request for revocation of the suspension of 12 MPs. The incident happened in the last Monsoon session. So, how can you take this decision now,” Kharge was quoted as saying.
Shortly after Naidu’s decision not to revoke the suspension, the Opposition staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha.
The uproar in the Upper House also trickled down to the Lower House with Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury saying they too had staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha to show support to the 12 MPs, who were suspended.
“We have staged a walkout from Lok Sabha to support the 12 members. The action of suspension from the current winter session points at a ‘retrospective effect’. Why should an apology be issue,” he said.
He further alleged that the government was using suspension as a “threat” to silence the Opposition.
It is left to be seen if business will be conducted but as of now Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.
Lok Sabha is expected to take up the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 today.
The crucial Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill is also to be taken up in this Winter Session of Parliament. The session is also expected to introduce one finance bill in addition to the 36 legislative bills.
With inputs from agencies
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