West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee on Monday called suspension of eight Rajya Sabha MPs, including ywo from her party, over Sunday’s chaos in the House ‘unfortunate.’
Banerjee further vowed to fight the ‘fascist’ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Parliament and on the streets. “Suspension of the eight MPs who fought to protect farmers’ interests is unfortunate and reflective of this autocratic government’s mindset that doesn’t respect democratic norms and principles. We won’t bow down and we’ll fight this fascist government in Parliament and on the streets,” Banerjee tweeted.
TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen were among eight opposition MPs suspended for a week by Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday for ‘unruly behaviour’ with deputy chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh a day ago. Congress’ Rajeev Satav, Syed Nasir Hussain and Ripun Borah, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Sanjay Singh, and CPI(M) leaders KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem are six other members of the House who have been suspended for a week.
The suspensions came after the dramatic scenes in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday, as opposition leaders, with TMC’s O’Brien at the forefront, stormed the well of the House to protest against the passage of the two of the three contentious farm bills introduced by the Narendra Modi government.
{{/usCountry}}The suspensions came after the dramatic scenes in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday, as opposition leaders, with TMC’s O’Brien at the forefront, stormed the well of the House to protest against the passage of the two of the three contentious farm bills introduced by the Narendra Modi government.
{{/usCountry}}Farmers in both Punjab and Haryana have taken to streets against the bills, alleging that these would lead to dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system. However, the government, including Prime Minister Modi, has repeatedly assured the farmers the MSP system will not be withdrawn.