Naidu rejects no-confidence motion against Harivansh; suspended MPs sit on dharna on Parliament premises
Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday suspended eight Opposition members from the House for the rest of the Monsoon Session over the unprecedented chaos in the Upper House during the passing of the controversial farm Bills on Sunday. Naidu also rejected a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties against Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narain Singh.
The suspended members refused to leave the House and sat on a protest dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statute on the Parliament premises.
The suspended members were joined by almost all the Opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav, Jaya Bachchan, and leaders from the Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, 18 Opposition parties have written to the President of India, requesting him not to give his approval to the farm sector Bills passed by both Houses.
The protest will continue overnight and the suspended members will again attempt to enter the Upper House. If they are stopped, the protest will continue on the Parliament lawns. A similar protest overnight had happened on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill when members remained in the Lok Sabha till wee hours.
The suspended members — TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Dola Banerjee, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, Congress’s Rajeev Satav, Sayid Nasir Hussain, Ripun Bora; CPI(M)’s KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem — were told by the Chairman that they had displayed “unruly behaviour especially with the Chair and gross disorderly conduct”.
“I am pained at what happened yesterday. It defies logic. It is a bad day for the Rajya Sabha,” Naidu said.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved the motion for the suspension of the eight MPs.
Naidu also rejected the no-confidence motion moved by 12 Opposition parties against his Deputy Harivansh, saying a notice period of 14 days is required. The suspended members were asked to leave the House, but when they refused to do so, the session was adjourned until 10 am and then for a hour again.
After the House reconvened at 10.30 am, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said he will ask the Leader of the Opposition to speak before any Bills are discussed, but said that those who have been named by the Chairman cannot participate.
The suspended members refused to leave the House while the Opposition protested loudly against the action, causing five adjournments of the Rajya Sabha. The Opposition said the members should have been given a chance to explain and demanded a vote on their suspension, but the Rajya Sabha said the decision was based on a Government motion.
Naidu said the members threw papers, wrenched mics away, “physically threatened” Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh and even abused him.
“I am naming Mr Derek O Brien. Please go out of the House,” Naidu said, as he named the suspended members.
But the eight suspended MPs didn’t budge, even after the House adjourned, and one of them even called for a blanket and pillows for an overnight stay. Later, the protest started on the lawns of the Parliament complex, with MPs holding up placards that read - “We will fight for farmers” and “Parliament assassinated”.
Two of the Government’s three farm Bills, which have led to massive protests by Opposition parties and farmers, were passed on Sunday amid an uproar in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress termed “undemocratic” and “one-sided” the suspension of eight Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, including three of its own, with Rahul Gandhi saying the “muting of democratic India continues by initially silencing and later suspending the parliamentarians.
“Muting Of Democratic India continues: by initially silencing and later, suspending MPs in Parliament and turning a blind eye to farmers’ concerns on the black agriculture laws. This ‘omniscient’ Government’s endless arrogance has brought economic disaster for the entire country,” tweeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted: “Absolutely unbelievable! BJP MURDERED democracy by ruthlessly silencing all the Opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha. Citizens of the nation, raise your voice before we’re completely under Narendra Modi’s dictatorship! #BJPKilledDemocracy”.
The Congress party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and its chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala later addressed a Press conference where they accused Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh of acting at the behest of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Chowdhury alleged that the newly elected Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha was working under Government obligation. “At the behest of PMO, he tried to muzzle and throttle the voices of the Opposition parties,” he said.
“Congress condemns this kind of expulsion of members of the Rajya Sabha in such a brazen and undemocratic manner? We will be protesting to restore the status quo ante of our honourable members of the Rajya Sabha,” Chowdhury told reporters.
