The vice president did not allow many members of the opposition, supposed deputies, to speak. (PROCEEDINGS)
New Delhi:
Around 47 members of opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha’s vice president Harivansh Singh after today’s process, in which two controversial land bills were passed amid unprecedented uproar. A motion of no confidence against the vice president is the first in parliament and the convention is that Mr. Singh should not preside over the house sessions until the matter is resolved.
The Vice President “attempted to get the bills passed hastily and without mind enforcement, circumvented all demands for proper voting by the Division, and violated all Covid-10 regulations by failing to provide sufficient time for disinfection,” it reads in the letter from the parliamentarians to the Secretary. General of Rajya Sabha.
The letter also said that he “filled the house with security personnel deliberately designed to intimidate and outnumber members of the opposition.”
In the letter, the parliamentarians also alleged that the vice president did not allow many opponents to speak or consider extending the session, which due to the security measures imposed by the coronavirus outbreak should end at 2.
Members of the opposition took up arms this afternoon after Singh said his resolution was overruled and he set out to pass the two bills by oral vote despite a demand for division by DMK MP Siva from his seat. .
The opposition had demanded a physical vote in which members who sat in the Lok Sabha could also vote, noting that they were sitting in parliament.
When the president refused, they ran to the well of the house, tried to break the rule book to underline their accusations, and tried to snatch the microphone from the vice president.
Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress said the breaking of the rules has helped the BJP, which did not have enough members in the House today.
“They cheated. They broke all the rules of Parliament. It was a historic day. In the worst sense of the word. They cut the broadcast of RSTV so that the country could not see. They censored RSTV. Do not spread propaganda. We have evidence,” it said a tweet from him.
Singh was elected last Monday when parliament resumed for the monsoon session after nearly six months. It was postponed indefinitely in March, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nationwide lockdown to curb the pandemic.
This is Singh’s second term in office – he held the post earlier and was vacated after his term in Rajya Sabha ended.
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