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‘Govt was ready for discussion on price rise’: Piyush Goyal slams Opposition
Union minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal said the decision to suspend the 19 opposition members was taken with a heavy heart.
The government was ready for discussion on the issue of price rise and had informed the opposition leaders, union minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday after a record 19 Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for disrupting proceedings for the remainder of the week.
Goyal said the decision to suspend the 19 opposition members was taken with a heavy heart. “The chairman has decided to suspend a few members of opposition parties. We have repeatedly stated that we are ready for discussion on any issue including price rise and have agreed to their demand for a discussion on the issue…. (But) they are continuously disturbing the proceedings of the House,” Goyal, who is the leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters.
He said the government was hopeful of having a discussion on the issue of price rise when union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is unwell, is back at work.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said despite assurances by the government, the opposition continuously disturbed the proceeding of the House and infringed on the rights of the other members to ask questions and participate in the debates.
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The 19 parliamentarians suspended on Tuesday include seven from the Trinamool Congress, six from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one from the Communist Party of India (CPI). They were suspended after Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh repeatedly asked them to return to their seats but when they refused.
Minister of state for parliamentary affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion to suspend 10 MPs from the sitting of the House for the remainder of the week for their “misconduct” by showing “utter disregard to the House and authority of the chair”. Harivansh read out the names of 19 members when the motion was put to vote.
A PTI report said the suspended MPs refused to leave, squatting on the floor of the House, leading to three adjournments -- first for 15 minutes by Harivansh, then for an hour and finally, for the day by Bhubaneswar Kalita, who was in the chair.
On Monday, Lok Sabha speaker suspended four protesting Congress members for the remainder of the monsoon session, amid continuing disruptions in Parliament proceedings by the Opposition on issues of high inflation and GST (goods and services tax) on household essentials.
The MPs who stormed the well of the House holding placards were suspended “for serious note of misconduct in utter disregard of the House and the authority of the Chair...”. On Tuesday, the four parliamentarians, Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, S Jothimani and Ramya Haridas staged a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament complex, alleging that their suspension amounted to “murder of democracy”. They were joined by leaders of Left parties, NCP, DMK and the Congress in a show of solidarity.
