Piyush Goyal demands special committee to probe incidents of 'gross indiscipline' by opposition members in RS, seeks tough action

New Delhi [India], August 11 : Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal strongly condemned the behaviour of opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday when the House had taken up a bill related to the insurance business and urged the Chairman to form a special committee to look into "incidents of gross indiscipline" during the monsoon session in which opposition parties forced repeated adjournments over their demands.
Speaking in the Upper House before it was adjourned sine die, Goyal said "tough steps" should be taken after inquiry so that such incidents were not repeated.
Goyal, who is Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, said attempts were made to attack the chair, secretary general and to strangulate a woman security member.
"Opposition's intentions were on full display today. The way attempts were made to attack panel chairman, table staff and the secretary-general. When the Opposition members were stopped while they were heading towards the well to attack the panel chairman, table staff and the secretary-general, attempts were also made to strangulate a woman security staff," he said.
"Opposition members even tried to stop me and the parliamentary affairs minister from coming out of our chambers. This is unfortunate. Such behaviour is very shameful for democracy and should never be tolerated by the House and the country," he added.
He said actions of opposition clearly indicate that "their aim was to not let the parliament function properly" since the start of the monsoon session.
"When the session started on July 19, since that day, the government, Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Chairman everybody wanted that various bills, issues should be discussed properly in both the Houses of Parliament. Several rounds of talks were held with the Opposition regarding the same but now it seems that the Opposition since the start had come with the intention that they will not let Parliament function," he said
"When the Opposition members came into the well to protest, they should have followed COVID protocols. But they violated all the protocols. All the activities of disrupting the Houses were pre-planned," he added.
Goyal also referred to previous incidents in the House during the session including the one that led to the suspension of a Trinamool Congress member and to another incident in which a glass pane was broken and a woman security member injured.
"We demand that a special committee be set up to look into the incidents of gross indiscipline by opposition members and strict action be taken," he said.
Noting that he has been a member of Parliament for the last 11 years, Goyal stated that he hasn't witnessed such behaviour from the Opposition before and senior members of House had also told him that they had not seen such behaviour.
He said the Opposition wanted a discussion on issues including COVID, the country's economic situation and farm laws.
"When the government agreed, they started changing their stand because then they felt that their aim of washing out the entire monsoon session will be unsuccessful. They tried to legalise the acts of disrupting and insulting the Parliament. I have been a member of Parliament for 11 years now, but haven't witnessed such behaviour from the Opposition in the last 11 years," he said.
The Opposition resorted to vociferous protests on Wednesday as the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 was taken up for consideration in the upper House.
The bill was moved for consideration and passing by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Protesting opposition members came to the well of the House and some of them were seen tearing papers.
They accused the government of not following parliamentary norms and "bulldozing" the legislation. The Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill was taken up after the upper House unanimously passed the constitution amendment bill to enable states to prepare their own OBC lists.
The opposition has also been protesting and forcing adjournments on their other demands including a probe into allegations of surveillance through Pegasus spyware and repeal of new farm laws.