Read below: Congress terms suspension of Opposition MPs for remainder of Winter Session 'undemocratic'
NEW DELHI — The Rajya Sabha was on Thursday adjourned for the day amid protests by Opposition members over the suspension of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, Derek O'Brien.
The Opposition MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah in the House over Wednesday’s massive security breach in Parliament and were protesting over it.
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When the Upper House reassembled at 4 p.m. after four adjournments, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked suspended member O'Brien to leave the House in compliance with the order passed earlier.
According to Dhankhar, O'Brien staying put in the House was a serious violation and a wilful defiance of the order.
Following the remarks by the Chairman, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved a resolution under Rule 192 to refer the issue to the Committee of Privileges of the Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha then passed a motion against the suspended MP, referring O'Brien’s conduct to the Committee of Privileges for examination and investigation with a report to be submitted within three months.
It was immediately taken up by the Chairman and passed by a voice vote. "The motion is adopted. The matter stands referred to the Committee of Privileges of the Rajya Sabha for examination, investigation and report within a period of three months," Dhankhar said.
He again urged O'Brien to leave the House, but the latter did not oblige. However, O'Brien staged a silent protest in the Parliament over his suspension for the remainder of the Winter Session.
The Congress on Thursday hit back at the government over the suspension of several of its party MPs for remainder of the Winter Session, terming the development "horrible and undemocratic".
In a post on 'X', Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said: "A horrible, undemocratic move to suspend opposition MPs for demanding an answer from the government on the shocking security breach in the Parliament yesterday (Wednesday).
"On one hand, 5 MPs are suspended for demanding accountability, while on the other, there is no action against the BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the miscreants. This is a murder of democracy. The BJP government has reduced Parliament to a rubber stamp. Not even the pretence of a democratic process is left," Venugopal said.
His remarks came after opposition MPs including Benny Behanan, VK Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, PR Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subrahmanyam, SR Parthiban, S Venkatesan and Manickam Tagore were also suspended from Lok Sabha for the rest of the session for "unruly conduct".
Earlier on Thursday, five Congress MPs -- Jothimani, Hibi Eden, TN Prathapan, Kumari Ramya Haridas, Dean Kuriyakose -- were also suspended for remainder of the session.
Following their suspension from the remainder of the session, opposition MPs sat on protest inside the House.