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Chadha suspended from Rajya Sabha, alleges BJP is ‘muzzling dissent’
Raghav Chadha is the second AAP lawmaker to have been suspended from the Upper House during this session
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Raghav Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Friday following allegations of violation of rules, pending a report by the privileges committee.
The motion to suspend Chadha for “gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct”, was passed by a voice vote. He is the second AAP lawmaker to have been suspended from the Upper House during this session.
Chadha termed the allegations as “false” and said that he will challenge the suspension before the privileges committee.
His suspension was followed a motion moved by Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal, seeking action against Chadha for allegedly including names of six other lawmakers without their consent in a proposed Select Committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Four of those lawmakers — BJD’s Sasmit Patra, BJP’s S Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin, and AIADMK’s M Thambidurai — alleged breach of privilege by Chadha “for inter-alia including their names without their consent, in violation of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, in a motion on August 7”.
Chadha on Friday said his “only crime was exposing BJP’s double standards on Delhi’s statehood and asking them to follow “Advani-vaad” and “Vajpayee-vad”.
The BJP, however, called his behaviour “unethical” and accused him for “breaking decorum”.
“My suspension serves as a stark message from the BJP to youth: If you dare to ask questions, we will crush your voice. I was suspended for asking tough questions that left the BJP, the world’s largest party, without answers through my speech in Parliament on Delhi Services Bill,” Chadha, 34, said.
“I will strongly present my case before the privileges committee and seek justice. If those who orchestrated this suspension thought they could suppress my commitment to serving the people and upholding the constitution, they are gravely mistaken,” he added.
Chadha’s suspension comes days after another AAP MP Sanjay Singh was suspended on July 24 for the remainder of the Monsoon session for repeatedly “violating” the directives of the chairman.
Singh’s suspension, too, was extended on Friday and his case referred to the privileges committee.
At a press conference on Friday, Singh said that the BJP is “suspending those who speak against it”.
“You are so rattled that you are suspending those who speak against you. You disqualified Rahul Gandhi; you suspended Derek Obrien and Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary... They issued a letter on July 24 saying that MP Sanjay Singh has been suspended from the monsoon session. Then suddenly they increased the suspension to prevent Sanjay Singh from entering the Parliament. BJP is so scared,” Singh said in the press conference at the party office.
Other Opposition parties, too, protested the decision.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, “Why has Raghav Chadha been suspended? Those members who had objections could have gone to the chairman to say that they don’t want to be part of the parliamentary panel. It is wrong to suspend Raghav Chadha in this manner. He will not enjoy several privileges available to an MP and neither will he be able to attend the meetings of parliamentary committees.”
Referring to Singh’s suspension, Tiwari said that the session has gone and the AAP MP continues to be suspended.
The Delhi BJP, however, hit back, saying that the “unethical behavior of Raghav Chadha is responsible for his suspension from the Rajya Sabha and not the BJP or the government”.
“The RS Chairman and the government gave full opportunity to Raghav Chadha to speak in the House, but he broke the decorum and discipline of the House. There is no positive contribution of the Aam Aadmi Party in the proceedings of the Parliament,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.
