Oppn anger against RS action stalls Parliament

On Tuesday, the House witnessed a walkout by opposition MPs after chairman Venkaiah Naidu refused to reconsider the suspension of 12 lawmakers, and announced an intensifying of protests that threaten to cast a shadow on the two-day-old Winter Session.

Several opposition parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after chairman Venkaiah Naidu refused to reconsider the suspension of 12 lawmakers, and announced an intensifying of protests that threaten to cast a shadow on the two-day-old Winter Session.

The action over unruly scenes in the previous session of Parliament also sparked an exchange between Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Naidu. The former argued that incidents in the last session were not relevant in the current session, and the latter said that the Upper House was a “continuing institution” and that the 12 members didn’t show any remorse.

The 12 MPs — six from the Congress, two each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena, and one each from the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) — decided to hold an indefinite sit-in at the Gandhi statue in Parliament from Wednesday.

Opposition parties, also miffed at the two Houses passing a bill repealing three farm laws without a discussion on Monday, said they will launch fresh protests and turn their focus to demanding a central crop price support law, a long-pending ask of farm unions. The government also appeared to have hardened its stand, by insisting that the members needed to apologise before their suspensions could be reconsidered. The demand was rejected by the suspended lawmakers.

Soon after Rajya Sabha convened on Tuesday, several Opposition parties — including the Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and the Left parties, among others — staged a walkout and didn’t return to the chamber. The TMC, too, left the House in protest after a few minutes, and later joined the collective protest outside the House.

In the evening, Kharge wrote to Naidu, dubbing the suspension as an “unprecedented excessive action for unfortunate incidents in the last day of the monsoon session”. He tried to counter Naidu and said that the Council Of States was a continuous House but “each session is summoned by the President under Article 85(1) of the Constitution.

“Therefore upon the completion of the sittings of the session, the House is adjourned sine die and subsequently prorogued…If the House had only been adjourned and then reconvened without any prorogation, the argument of continuity would merit any justification,” he wrote.

In the House, Kharge said that he was denied an opportunity to raise a point of order when the motion was moved, which he said was a “gross violation” of parliamentary convention.

The Congress leader cited these “anomalies” in his letter too. “I urge you to reconsider the matter of suspension of 12 MPs in the larger interest of Parliamentary democracy and revoke the suspension. We very much want the House to function smoothly,” he wrote.

Congress insiders said opposition parties will meet on Wednesday morning to decide their plan of action. “Our two MPs would sit for dharna till the end of the session,” a Congress leader said.Another party leader said their legislators will also sit on an indefinite dharna.

On Monday, 12 Rajya Sabha members were suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session after the House passed a motion moved by the government seeking their suspension under Rule 256 for their “unruly and violent behaviour” in the Upper House during the Monsoon Session.

On the last day of the Monsoon Session on August 11, some opposition MPs climbed on Rajya Sabha officials’ table, raised slogans, and threw files when the House began a discussion on the farmers’ protest against new laws. Opposition parties termed the suspension as “undemocratic”.

Soon after the House convened on Tuesday, Kharge argued that under the provision of sub-rule (1) of Rule 256, before a motion was moved for suspension of any member, the Chairman had to first name the MPs.

“More importantly, this procedure is relevant only on the date of occurrence of the alleged disregard or disorderly conduct of a member. However, yesterday, the motion for suspension of members was moved by the minister of parliamentary affairs for their alleged disorderly conduct which took place during the previous session. In the present case, none of the 12 members were named for that particular day. Bringing forward the motion to suspend the members months after the day of occurrence of alleged disorderly conduct is not in order...” he said.

Naidu countered the charge by pointing out that the Rajya Sabha was a continuing institution. “The chairman of the House of Rajya Sabha is empowered under Rules 256, 259, 266 and even under other residuary powers. The chairman can take action, and the House can take action. What happened yesterday is not the chairman taking action. It is the House, after the resolution was moved, which took this action,” he said.

Naidu turned down the appeal for reversal of the suspension and said the MPs who “committed sacrilege against the House had not expressed remorse but were justifying it” and therefore, he didn’t consider the appeal “worth considering”.

Earlier in the day, floor leaders of eight opposition parties, led by Kharge, met Naidu to urge him to consider the revocation of the suspended members. According to people aware of the details, Naidu underlined that the “revocation may not be possible without the House proceedings being restored to normalcy and the errant members expression sincere regret for their misconduct”.

After protesting against the chair’s decision, the opposition parties met to strategise in Kharge’s room. After the meeting, TRS leader K Keshava Rao said the party will back the demand for revoking the suspension. “Our fight will continue as the suspension is illegal. Politically the opposition is united. This is throttling the democratic process. We are told three MPs who were not present in the House on August 11 have also been suspended,” he said.

The government refuted the allegation. “We have a record with proof of the actions of the MPs who have been named in the day’s bulletin and against whom action has been taken,” said Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi.

The Opposition and the government also hardened their respective positions about an apology. Union minister Piyush Goyal said the government was ready to reconsider the suspension if the lawmakers in question apologised, but the members were determined that they had done nothing wrong and will not apologise.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, one of the suspended members who has contested the government’s claims about her actions on August 11, categorically said she will not apologise. CPI(M)’s Binoy Viswam also ruled out an apology.

“It is against the principle of natural justice. Individual members have their own rights. The situation that has emerged is regrettably on account of the government’s arrogance and obduracy,” said Congress leader Anand Sharma.

Opposition parties also hinted that they may not want to boycott the session as it will give the government an opportunity to blame these parties for not participating in the proceedings.

(With inputs from Rahul Singh)