By PTI
NEW DELHI: TMC MP Shantanu Sen was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Friday for the remaining period of the monsoon session after a motion moved by the government was passed by the House.
Soon after the obituary references and laying of papers, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion for Sen’s suspension after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) member snatched papers from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and tore those in the House on Thursday.
The motion was passed by a voice vote and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked Sen to leave the House.
The TMC members protested and raised objection to the manner in which the motion was brought without listing it in the day’s business.
TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray raised the issue of Sen being threatened by a minister, but the chairman said it happened after the House was adjourned.
Soon after Sen was asked to leave the House by the Chairman after a motion was passed against him, TMC members raised strong objections on the suspension and raised uproar.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan had moved a motion for Sen’s suspension after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) member snatched papers from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and tore those in the House on Thursday.
Congress and other opposition members also demanded a discussion on the Pegasus spyware issue and created uproar.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House till 12 noon.
He earlier urged the government and the opposition to sit together and evolve a strategy to help run the House smoothly.
When the House reassembled at 12 noon for Question Hour, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh requested Sen to withdraw himself from the Rajya Sabha saying the motion had been accepted by the Chairman.
“Dr Shantanu Sen, a motion moved and accepted by the chairman and I therefore ask you to kindly withdraw yourself from Rajya Sabha,” he said.
As the protest from the opposition members continued, the Chair was forced to adjourn till 12.30pm.
The Lok Sabha too was adjourned for the day on Friday after opposition members continued to raise slogans against the Government on various issues.
As the House reassembled at 12 noon, Kirit Solanki, who was in the Chair, asked protesting members to take their respective seats.
During the brief period for which the House functioned, resolutions were passed to appoint and elect new members in various Parliamentary panels as some of the members have become Ministers in the recent reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers.
As opposition uproar continued, Solanki said that such behaviour does not suit senior elected members of the House and adjourned the proceedings for the day.
Opposition members have been protesting over various issues for the fourth straight sitting of the Monsoon session.
Similar scenes were witnessed when the House met in the morning, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the House till 12 noon.
The Lok Sabha will meet on July 26 after a routine weekend break.
