The complaint filed by Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal for disruptions caused on the last two days of the Monsoon session has put Chairman Venkaiah Naidu in a difficult position.
The government complaint lists 18 opposition MPs while on directions of the Chair 40 opposition members have been named for “persistently and willfully obstructing” the proceedings of the House, leaving Mr. Naidu with the question on whom to punish and which members to condone.
On Friday, the Rajya Sabha secretariat sent out a draft analytical status note to Mr. Naidu, citing precedents and the action that has been taken in such cases.
There are a few key discrepancies between the two lists for example, Samajwadi Party’s Vishambhar Prasad Nishad who has been listed out by the Rajya Sabha, does not figure in the government complaint. CPI (M) Elamaram Kareem does not figure in the Rajya Sabha list, while he has been named in Mr Goyal’s complaint.
The last two days of the monsoon session of Parliament on August 10 and August 11 the opposition protests turned violent. On August 10, when the government pushed through a debate on “the agricultural problems and solutions” while the opposition refused to settle for anything less than repeal of the three farm laws. On August 11, the government pushed for The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment 2021 even when the entire opposition wanted the bill to go to a select committee including the BJP friendly parties. The bill was passed in an extraordinary situation even as the opposition MPs were having a tussle with the Parliamentary security officials who had swarmed the Rajya Sabha chamber.
Record of events
The Rajya Sabha Bulletin 1 that publishes a record of the day’s events in the house also names the members who caused disruptions.
The members have been named for “entering the ‘Well’ of the House, displaying placards, shouting slogans and persistently and willfully obstructed the proceedings of the House,” as per the bulletins of the two days. August 10 bulletin names 34 members while the August 11 names 33 members. There are 27 names which are common to these two bulletins.
Many opposition MPs too meanwhile have filed counter complaints alleging that they were manhandled by the Parliamentary security officials. They have further alleged that male marshals have assaulted the women members.
