Winter session: Opposition parties stage walkout from Rajya Sabha over suspension of 12 MPs
Nov 30, 2021
New Delhi [India], November 30 : Opposition parties including Congress, DMK, RJD, Left and AAP on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after their demand to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs was rejected by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.
Soon after the House assembled for the day, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge read a submission requesting the Rajya Sabha Chairman to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs from the House for the entire winter session.
In his submission, Kharge said: "I request you to revoke the suspension of 12 members of the House."
Kharge also pointed out that he was not allowed to raise a point of order and it is a gross violation of the rule. He also said that the members should be named before issuing suspension orders against them.
However, the Chairman denied revoking the suspension, saying the House named all members on August 10 and requested them to help in the functioning of the House but they ransacked the House.
The Chairman said even Deputy Chairman also took the names of the members. "This is not the way. You ransacked the House and now you are teaching me a lesson. I cannot revoke the suspension of the members."
Later the Congress, Left, RJD and AAP members stood on their seats and started sloganeering against the government.
As the Chairman continued the House proceedings and started Zero Hour, Congress leader Kharge said "we protest and walk out from the House".
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.
The motion, moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday was passed by voice vote even as the Opposition protested.
The members were suspended for the rest of the winter session under Rule 256 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha. The rule has been used 13 times in the past to suspend 26 members (some multiple times) since 1962. The membership of two Parliamentarians was terminated under the same rule in 2010.
