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Rajya Sabha chairman Naidu reviews August 11 House ruckus video
Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu watched the entire visual recording of the incidents in the House, including those involving some members and marshals on August 11, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday went to Parliament House to watch the recorded proceedings of August 11 when some marshals and a few Opposition lawmakers were seen jostling on the floor of the House, people aware of the development said.
Naidu watched the entire visual recording of the incidents in the House, including those involving some members and marshals on August 11, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
Officials of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on Friday said legal consultation is being sought to arrive at a decision on how to take action against the MPs who have been caught on tape manhandling the marshals, damaging House property and were named in the complaints by two marshals who were injured in the melee.
While Opposition members had staged a walkout from the House, protesting the hurried passage of bills and the deployment of security personnel inside the House, the government blamed the Opposition members for manhandling the marshals.
Communist Party of India MP Binoy Viswam, on Saturday wrote to Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Desh Deepak Verma, requesting a detailed probe in August 11 events.
“Requesting you to conduct a detailed probe into the events that transpired on 11th August 2021 when members of the Opposition, including me, were physically manhandled and targeted by unknown personnel in the Parliament. These unfortunate instances occurred when the Government tried to bulldoze the passing of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. This was despite repeated requests from the Opposition and even their own allies, to send the bill to a Select Committee, which the Government early indicated it would do,” Viswam wrote in the letter.
At least two marshals, one man and a woman, have submitted a complaint to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, listing the injuries they received while trying to restrain the lawmakers who were protesting in the well of the House.
Speaking to reporters outside the House, Congress’s Phulo Devi Netam and Chhaya Verma had alleged they were manhandled by male marshals. Leader of the Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge had alleged that women MPs do not feel safe inside Parliament and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar also said he had never witnessed such scenes in Parliament in his 55-year parliamentary tenure.
The government, however, sought exemplary action against the MPs accused of violating parliamentary decorum.
