As Rajya Sabha witnessed chaos with the Opposition parties staging a walkout over the suspension of 12 MPs on Tuesday, the government hit back at the Opposition, saying that the suspended MPs should apologize to the House, the Chair and the country for their behaviour on August 11.
As the proceedings resumed in the Upper House of Parliament, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal defended the Chair's decision to suspend the Opposition members and condemned the behaviour of the members during the Monsoon session.
Goyal said, "It is regrettable that the Leader of Opposition lowered the dignity of the House by making allegations regarding the suspension of 12 MPs."
He alleged that the Opposition members misbehaved with the staff of the House. "The whole House would like the MPs to return. They should apologise for their behaviour on August 11. They should apologise to the House, the chair and the country," Goyal stated.
Soon after the House assembled for the day, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge reads a submission requesting Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu 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."
As the Chairman continued the House proceedings and started the Zero Hour, Congress leader Kharge said "we protest and walkout from the House".
Congress, DMK, RJD, the Left parties and AAP staged a walkout after their request to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs was not accepted by the Chairman. TMC MPs continue to sit in 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.
Among matters being raised with the permission of the Chair, GK Vasan from Tamil Nadu and KC Ramamoorthy from Karnataka note the destruction caused by rains in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively. Vijayasai Reddy from Andhra Pradesh brings the issue of floods in Andhra Pradesh to the notice of the house.
Vijayasai Reddy adds that it is imperative that the Centre step in and provide a relief package of Rs 1,000 crores to the State.
Narendra Jadhav, a nominated member, brings the Omicron coronavirus variant's risk to the notice of the house and notes that this has renewed the fears of a third wave of the pandemic. He requests the government to start vaccinating frontline workers and people with comorbidities with booster shots.
Amid the walkout by the Opposition during the Question hour, Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu read his remarks over the suspension of the members and asserted that suspension of 12 MPs for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session was in order and was to protect democracy.
Naidu further mentioned that "it was the decision of the House and not of the Chair".
The Rajya Sabha Chairman explained various related aspects while responding to the procedural objections to the suspension raised by the leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, in the House.
Accordingly, Naidu said, "it is not correct to describe the suspension as anti-democratic".
He stressed that the Chair and the House are empowered to take appropriate action against the acts of indiscipline by Members in the House under the Rules of Procedure of the House.
Noting the absence of Opposition members from the House, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh adjourned the Rajya Sabha until 11:00 am on Wednesday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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