News Analysis India

Tag: Opposition MPs

  • Ahead Of President’s Budget Session Address, Rajya Sabha Chairman Revokes Suspension Of 11 Opposition MPs |

    Hours after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the suspension of 11 opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha would be revoked on the government’s request, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar revoked their suspension allowing them to attend the Budget session. The Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee held 11 suspended opposition MPs guilty of breach of privilege and contempt of the Council of States.

    The committee submitted the report to Dhankhar, acknowledging the circumstances that the suspended members would be unable to participate in the special address by President Droupadi Murmu to both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, marking the first address in the new Parliament building. In its report, submitted to the Rajya Sabha chairman a day before the session commences on Wednesday, the committee also proposed considering the duration of suspension already served by the members as an adequate penalty for the violation.

    The MPs are Jebi Mather Hisham, L Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, G C Chandrashekhar, Binoy Viswam, Santhosh Kumar P, M Mohamed Abdulla, John Brittas and A A Rahim. The committee usually submits its recommendations to the House. The sources said the chairman invoked the authority vested in him under the rules of procedure to revoke their suspension enabling the members to attend the special address by the president.

    The matter of 11 MPs suspended by the chairman during the Winter session of Parliament was referred to the Privileges Committee.

  • Parliament Standoff: 141 Suspended MPs Barred From Chambers, Committees And Allowances

    The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular which barred the 141 suspended MPs from chambers, committees and allowances.

  • Opposition members walk out after Rajya Sabha Dy Chairman rejects discussion on inflation

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress and other opposition parties on Thursday walked out from the Rajya Sabha over the issues of inflation, price rise and farmers.

    The Congress was the first to walk out after Deputy Chairman Harivansh rejected their demand for a discussion on inflation.

    Leaders of other parties like the Left and some smaller parties also joined them soon.

    The TMC, TRS and DMK and some other parties also walked out of the House while raising the issues of farmers.

    Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge sought to raise the issue of inflation and price rise and demanded a discussion on it.

    The deputy chairman said it cannot be entertained as the Question Hour was on.

    Soon other parties also walked out as they wanted to raise the issues of farmers and MSP.

  • RS ruckus: Mallikarjun Kharge says govt used women marshals to frame Opposition MPs

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Launching a major offensive on the government over the issue of ruckus in Rajya Sabha on the last day of the monsoon session, Leader of Opposition in the house Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that women marshals were used to “blame and frame” the Opposition MPs.

    In an interview with PTI, Kharge said he hoped Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu would be impartial while deciding on the matter as putting the blame on one party would be unfair.

    The Congress veteran also said the BJP is now showing its true colours after getting a majority in both the houses and wanted to run Parliament with autocracy while bulldozing the bills.

    “The government used women marshals to blame the opposition and to frame them if something happened, in order to put them (MPs) on the wrong side,” Kharge told PTI.

    “Their attitude was to tarnish the image of the opposition,” he alleged.

    The Congress MP said the government created a “fort” in Rajya Sabha on August 11 and used force for the passage of the Insurance amendment bill, as they want to hand over state-run insurance companies to their businessmen friends.

    Asked what he thinks of the government’s demands for exemplary action against unruly opposition MPs, Kharge said “We will see when the action comes. Our members have also suffered injuries. We expect the chairman to be impartial.”

    The senior Congress leader said the government “wants to blame the opposition and there cannot be an impartial view if one opposition party is blamed like this.”

    Squarely blaming the NDA government for the washout of the recent monsoon session, Kharge said it was due to the Opposition’s cooperation that Parliament saw higher productivity in the previous sessions.

    “Parliament’s productivity was much lower during the Congress-led UPA time when BJP was in opposition,” Kharge said.

    He said while the productivity of Parliament under BJP rule is 90 per cent, it was only around 65 per cent during the UPA time when the BJP was in the opposition.

    On the unruly events of August 11, Kharge said after adjourning the upper house briefly following the passage of the OBC bill, the government immediately mobilised 40-50 marshals including women marshals.

    “They created a fort inside the house. The Chair normally calls marshals when there is disturbance and violence but here they did so even before the insurance bill was taken up and used them for the introduction, discussion and passage of the bill,” the Congress leader said.

    He alleged that the government used force to push the legislative agenda.

    “The government deployed women marshals ahead of male marshals so that even if anyone, by mistake, touched female security personnel, they could blame and frame the opposition MPs,” he said.

    “It is clear that the government is not running the house democratically. They want to be autocratic and bulldoze their agenda because they have the majority in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

    They did not behave like this when the opposition had higher numbers in the upper house,” Kharge said, accusing the government of using “muscle power”.

    “After getting more numbers in Parliament, the government is now showing its true colours and is trying to put the blame on us,” Kharge said.

  • Lok Sabha Speaker cautions Opposition not to place placards in front of his chair

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla cautioned Opposition leaders about their unruly behaviour as they are placing placards in front of his chair and also try to block the vision of those MPs participating in the debate in the House including that of the speaker.

    To get their protest noticed and broadcast on the Lok Sabha channel for people to see, many Opposition members have been using placards to block the sight of the MP, including ministers, with their placards demanding snooping investigation and farmers protest written on it.

    However, on Wednesday, Speaker Lok Sabha Om Birla cautioned the protesting Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs from placing placards in front of his chair when the camera moved towards him. The house was adjourned for fifteen minutes.

    Post adjournment, Rajendra Aggarwal chaired the sitting of the house.

    Meanwhile, Biju Janta Dal (BJD) MP Anubhav Mohanty, when got up to raise his issue in the House, many tried to block his screen time with placards as well.

     Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu conducts proceedings of the House during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

    Rajendra Aggarwal warned the Opposition MPs of serious action if attempts are made to block the screen presence of members participating in the functioning of the House.

    “Don’t do anything that chair may need to act on. These placards are coming in front of the chair. Get back. This isn’t right. You are crossing the limit. Go back to your seats,” said Aggarwal before adjourning the House again.

    The Opposition parties have been collectively making an attempt to get the camera’s capture during their protest as they shout slogans and wave placards in the well of the House.

    “What do we do? As we protest against issues like Pegasus and farmers protest, we need people to know we are raising voices and government is muzzling us and that is why if we are not shown on camera, we try to get our share of the live frame,” said one of the Opposition members who regularly wave placards on faces of members who speak.

    “They are exposing themselves and we let them do this for some time. However, it is getting worse day by day and parliamentary traditions do not allow this. We will see what needs to be done,” added a senior BJP leader. 

  • Opposition damaged dignity of Parliament, says BJP after ruckus in Lok Sabha 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday hit out at the opposition parties for creating ruckus in the Lok Sabha and throwing papers at the Chair, saying they have ashamed the world’s largest democracy and damaged the dignity of Parliament.

    Amid protest by opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers’ issue, the Lok Sabha was adjourned multiple times on Wednesday.

    The House witnessed unruly scenes when and Congress Left members threw papers and torn placards at the Chair and Treasury benches.

    A placard thrown by an MP fell in the press gallery.

    READ HERE | Congress MPs throw papers, torn placards at Chair in Lok Sabha

    Opposition MPs trooped into the Well of the House, raising slogans and holding placards against the government over the Pegasus and farmers’ issues.

    “There is a way to protest. But today, the opposition has damaged the dignity and decorum of the temple of our democracy,” Union Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters outside the parliament building.

    He further said the opposition MPs have “ashamed the world’s largest democracy by their condemnable actions”.

    Alleging that the opposition is running away from debate, the BJP leader sought to know why the opposition “doesn’t want issues to be discussed in parliament.

    The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the beginning of the session.

  • Pegasus row: Congress MPs throw papers, torn placards at Chair in Lok Sabha

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed unruly scenes when some Congress members threw papers and torn placards at the Chair and Treasury benches.

    Amid protest by opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers’ issue, the House was adjourned thrice with the first adjournment around 12:10 pm till 12.30 and again till 2 PM and for the third time till 2:30 pm.

    Opposition members trooped into the Well of the House, raising slogans and holding placards against the government over the Pegasus and farmers’ issues.

    Speaker Om Birla continued with the Question Hour despite disruptions.

    This was for the first time that Lok Sabha completed the Question Hour in the Monsoon session which began on July 19.

    The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the beginning of the session.

    As members from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and other parties continued with the sloganeering, Birla was seen going through a book on House procedures. Soon after the Question Hour ended, Speaker Birla left the House and Rajendra Agrawal took over.

    When papers were being laid, Congress members Gurjeet Aujala, TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden and some others threw business papers of the day, some torn papers as well as placards at the Chair. A piece of the torn placard landed in the press gallery just above the Speaker’s podium.

    However, Agrawal continued with the proceedings. The members repeatedly threw papers at the Chair and later towards the Treasury benches.

    One of the papers landed near the seat of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

    The Chair then adjourned the proceedings till 12:30 pm. When the House reassembled at 12:30 pm, the din continued and Agrawal adjourned Lok Sabha proceedings till 2 pm.

    As the protests continued, the House was again adjourned till 2:30 pm.

  • Lok Sabha conducts Question Hour without adjournments for first time this Monsoon session 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday conducted Question Hour without any adjournments for the first time since the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 19 despite vociferous protests by Opposition members on various issues.

    As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition members trooped into the Well as they sought to raise various issues.

    Some members were shouting slogans and displaying placards.

    From the Pegasus spyware controversy to the three farm laws, the members wanted to raise various issues during the Question Hour.

    Speaker Om Birla continued with the Question Hour despite the protests and more than ten questions related to various ministries as well as supplementaries were taken up.

    This is the first time in the current Monsoon session that the Question Hour went on without any adjournments. Since the commencement of the session on July 19, the proceedings have been repeatedly adjourned due to Opposition protests.

    On Tuesday, there were nine adjournments in the Lower House before proceedings were adjourned for the day in the evening. After being adjourned nine times, the lower house reassembled at 4.30 PM and Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, had once again taken up one matter of urgent public importance.

  • Govt to seek action against Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs over ‘misbehaviour’: Sources 

    The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has described the opposition conduct as a quot;new low quot; in Parliament.

  • Opposition MPs give adjourment notices in Lok Sabha demanding repeal of farm laws

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Eleven Members of Parliament from Shiromani Akali Dal, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Trinamool Congress, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), Shiv Sena, Revolutionary Socialist Party, and Congress have given notices of adjournment motion in Lok Sabha demanding farm laws to be repealed.

    These MPs include Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal from SAD, Gaurav Gogoi, Manish Tiwari, Preneet Kaur, K Suresh, and Jasbir Singh from Congress. Ritesh Pandey from BSP, ET Mohd Basheer from IUML, NK Premchandran from RSP, and Adv AM Arif from CPI (M) are among those who gave notices today.

    Congress MP TN Prathapan has also given an adjournment motion notice in the Lower House over the government’s approach in dealing with agitating farmers.

    TMC MP Saugata Roy gave the notice on “repression of agitating farmers by police with the use of wires, spikes, trenches” and to take up discussion on farmers”.

    On Tuesday, Lok Sabha witnessed three adjournments following Opposition protests against the new farm laws. Opposition members including those DMK, BSP, AAP, and TMC resorted to sloganeering over the farm laws against which farmers’ unions are protesting at Delhi borders.

    Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.