Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha, in a video message, called himself a ‘suspended’ Rajya Sabha member and raised a series of questions pointing at the central government for debarring him from the Upper House.
He asked whether the reason for his suspension was because he ‘questioned the leaders of the biggest party in the world inside the Parliament’ among other relevant matters.
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“Am I guilty because I questioned the leaders of the biggest party in the world inside the Parliament or am I guilty because I put forth my point on Delhi Services bill and demanded justice from them?” he asked.
Raghav Chadha was suspended from the Upper House for allegedly adding names of members to a select committee, without their consent, to assess the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
{{/usCountry}}Raghav Chadha was suspended from the Upper House for allegedly adding names of members to a select committee, without their consent, to assess the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
{{/usCountry}}Moving the motion of suspension, Union minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal quoted one of the members who raised an issue where his name was ‘fraudulently’ added to the list despite not giving his consent. “The views expressed by the members on the floor of the House, left no doubt that there was an outrage of privilege of these members by hon'ble member Raghav Chadha by including their names in the motion without securing their willingness. This is contrary to the provision of Rule 72,” he said.
Five Rajya Sabha MPs — S Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin and Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP, M Thambidurai of AIADMK and Sasmit Patra of BJD — said that their name was included without their consent in a select committee moved by Raghav Chadha in the House.
The AAP MP earlier refuted the allegations.
Several Opposition parliamentarians reacted to the Rajya Sabha's decision to suspend Chadha. AAP MP Sanjay Singh, whose suspension has also been extended today, said the decision was made on ‘baseless allegations’.
"Instead of taking action in Manipur, they are targeting me. They extended my suspension going against the rules. I will continue to speak for Manipur and won't get intimidated by such steps. Raghav Chadha has also been suspended over baseless allegations," he said.