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regular-article-logo Thursday, 02 May 2024

Special panel to decide on penalty for Parliament chaos: Sources

The government is determined to make an example of the MPs who created ruckus in the House during the monsoon session, leading to non-stop disruption

Our Bureau And Agencies New Delhi Published 17.08.21, 10:04 PM
Seven or nine senior members can be a part of the committee, who may be asked to submit their report and recommendations within a month.

Seven or nine senior members can be a part of the committee, who may be asked to submit their report and recommendations within a month. File photo

A committee of parliamentarians, from the ruling alliance and the opposition, can be formed to take action against members who create a ruckus in Rajya Sabha, sources told NDTV.

Seven or nine senior members can be part of this committee. They may be asked to submit their report and recommendations within a month.

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Sources said the government is determined to make an example of the MPs who created ruckus in parliament during the monsoon session, leading to non-stop disruption.

Towards the end of the session, the government pushed through 22 bills. During the session, sources had said the disruptions had led to the loss of more than ₹ 130 crore in public money.

On Sunday, the government sent a written complaint to Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, naming the MPs.

A delegation of seven Union ministers met Naidu and gave him the complaint, which contains the names of more than 15 MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, the Left parties and the Aam Aadmi Party.

The names were the Congress’s Deepinder Hooda, Rajmani Patel, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Pratap Singh Bajwa, Ripun Bora, Syed Nasir Hussain, Phoolo Devi and Chhaya Verma.

From the Trinamool Congress, the government named Abir Ranjan Biswas, Dola Sen, Arpita Ghosh, Shanta Chhetri and Mausam Noor.

Shiv Sena’s Anil Desai and Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ilamaram Karim of Left parties and Sanjay Singh of Aam Aadmi Party have been named in the complaint as well.

Similar written complaint will also be lodged by allies of BJP like JD(U), AIADMK, RPI, NPP, AGP etc.

According to the government, they climbed on the table and shoved the female marshal during the proceedings.

The opposition has repeatedly slammed the government over its reluctance to discuss the Pegasus spyware issue in parliament and a tug-of-war over issue had marred the session.

Amid the acrimonious stand-off, Rajya Sabha saw chaotic scenes on August 11 when the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill was passed despite demands to refer it to a select committee.

CCTV footage of the proceedings showed opposition members jostling security personnel inside the Rajya Sabha.

While the government accused the opposition of manhandling women marshals, the opposition, in a joint statement, said, “Outsiders, who were not part of Parliament security, were brought in to manhandle opposition leaders and members, including women MPs who were only protesting the government's conduct, highhandedness and muzzling of their voice.”

The joint statement was handed to Mr Naidu on August 12, and the opposition members, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, held a protest outside parliament.

According to sources, the government wants such strict action against the MPs who created ruckus so that it can become an example.

Some leaders have even cited the case of the 2005 cash for questions scam, in which the MPs who took bribe to ask questions in parliament had their membership terminated.

According to sources, the Rajya Sabha Chairman is not in favor of such extreme action. The penalty, however, will be strict and for this reason, the committee is being formed, they said.

The opposition has blamed the government for the ruckus, pointing to its “authoritarian attitude and undemocratic actions”.

The government, it said, “deliberately” derailed the monsoon session even though the opposition “unanimously conveyed (the need) to discuss important national issues” like the Pegasus scandal, they said.

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