Will revoke suspension of MPs if Opposition ready to apologize: Pralhad Joshi
Dec 08, 2021
New Delhi [India], December 8 : Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said that the Centre will revoke the suspension of 12 MPs if the Opposition apologizes for its conduct in Rajya Sabha.
While speaking to ANI in Parliament premises, Joshi said the way the Opposition is behaving is "not good."
He informed that he told Upper House on Tuesday that "if the Opposition is ready to apologize we will revoke the suspension of the 12 MPs."
Joshi said the government could pass the bills yesterday and the day before yesterday but "we don't want to pass the bills in the din". "We want discussion and constructive suggestions. But they are not ready to apologize," he added.
The Minister said, "Congress is responsible for its downfall due to such kind of attitude because they think what they do is right."
"I again request them to apologize. The Opposition should at least accept that they did a very big mistake. But they are not ready to accept it. They think what they did was right. People of the country are watching all these things," said Joshi.
He further raised questions on the Opposition's behaviour and said, "What can we do? Is it way to behave in Parliamentary democracy?"
Expressing his views on the Opposition's threat to boycott Parliament proceedings, Joshi said: "People have already boycotted them. If they continue boycotting like this, people will boycott them more."
In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on Monday following a motion brought in by the government.
The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.
The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.
Since their suspension, all the 12 MPs sit near Mahatma Gandhi Statue in the Parliament premises.
