Eight opposition MPs, including Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien and AAP’s Sanjay Singh, were suspended from Rajya Sabha for a week under Rule 256 (2) on Monday for their “rebellious behavior” during the fierce protests over Sunday’s farm bills. .
The government presented a motion for its suspension for “bringing discredit” to the Chamber. The motion passed the House amid protests from opposition leaders.
However, the president did not accept the vote of no confidence against Rajya Sabha Harivansh’s vice president presented by the opposition.
Also read: Stormy Sunday at home while 2 agricultural bills are passed
Apart from O’Brien and Singh, Congressional leaders Rajeev Satav, Syed Nasir Hussain and Ripun Borah, KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem from CPIM and Dola Sen from Trinamool were suspended.
The suspended MPs initially refused to leave and shouted slogans, prompting Rajya Sabha President Venkaiah Naidu to suspend the House session until 10 a.m. When the Chamber was resumed, the suspended deputies continued their protests and the Chamber was suspended for another half hour.
Naidu, visibly upset by Sunday’s development, made an observation at 9.30 am, at the end of zero hour, listing all the “rebel crimes” committed by opposition deputies in the Chamber. He said that in addition to shouting slogans and “dancing on the table”, some parliamentarians even tried to “physically harm the vice president.” During his speech, O’Brien and others began to protest.
Also read: Parliament’s monsoon session: Naidu rejects the motion of no confidence against Harivansh
Naidu named O’Brien and asked him to leave the house.
Minutes later, the government presented a resolution seeking the suspension of eight parliamentarians who led Sunday’s protests. The resolution was adopted by voice vote.
The suspended deputies did not leave the Chamber and instead began a new round of protests. The president has the option of calling the bailiffs to forcibly evict the deputies, but so far, Naidu has not taken that extreme step.
Then Rajya Sabha was suspended until Tuesday after the suspended MPs refused to leave the House. The president insisted that business can only be started after members leave home.
Bhuwaneswar Kalita, who was in the presidency, said that a statement by the congressional deputy and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad could only be allowed once the deputies left the house.
This is not the first time that several deputies have been suspended in the Chamber. During the Telangana question, a large number of deputies were suspended in Lok Sabha. During the debate on the women’s reserve bill under the UPA 1 regime, MPs were suspended in Rajya Sabah for rebellious behavior.
On Sunday, the Rajya Sabha became a battlefield. Top leaders charged the vice president, beat him, ripped off microphones, jumped on tables, circumvented the rules to record videos of the riot and shouted slogans. Authorities called on sheriffs to form a double-layered barricade to protect the President, removed a deputy from the table, silenced live proceedings, and refused to accept the opposition’s demand for a division – voting by ballot of paper – in bills.
The sharp protests were also the most aggressive in recent years and continued even after the House rose at 1 p.m. Opposition parties sat in Rajya Sabha for the next two hours and drafted a vote of no confidence against Rajya Sabha’s recently re-elected vice president, Harivansh, before firing salutes at the government on Twitter.
.
