Rajya Sabha LoP rules out apology by suspended MPs; alleges 'ploy' to muzzle opposition

Speaking to the media ahead of the meeting of the floor leaders of opposition parties in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge ruled out the possibility of the 12 suspended MPs tendering an apology. A day earlier, Congress' Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem, CPI's Binoy Viswam, Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of TMC and Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session. Kharge opined that it was akin to muzzling the opposition. 

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge remarked, "We will talk to the leaders of all parties. We will take a decision after that. There is no question of apologising. Second, the manner in which they suspended (MPs) is against the rules. This incident is from the last session. To make this an issue in the Winter session and suspend (MPs) is a ploy to muzzle the opposition. They have decided to suspend MPs of opposition so that they are not exposed. Even the people who were not near (the spot where the incident took place) were suspended." 

Monsoon session ruckus leads to suspension

Since the commencement of the Monsoon Session on July 19, Parliament was marked by sloganeering, leaders rushing to the Well of the House with placards, tearing of papers, and repeated adjournments. The opposition blamed the stubborn attitude of the treasury benches for the logjam, insisting on discussing the Pegasus 'snooping' row followed by the farm laws and inflation. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine dine two days ahead of schedule owing to the obstructionism of the opposition.

Republic TV accessed videos of the ruckus in Rajya Sabha on August 11 which challenge the opposition's charge that the marshals attacked women MPs. Dressed in blue, the marshals are seen keeping the parliamentarians at bay while some of them attempted to push their way through towards the Chair. At about 6.22 pm, TMC MP Dola Sen is seen pushing and obstructing the way of Leader of House Piyush Goyal and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. This was followed by Congress members Chhaya Verma and Phulo Devi Netam pushing and trying to bang the head of a lady marshal at 6.31 pm. 

Other MPs can be witnessed raising slogans, throwing papers, climbing on benches and manhandling the marshals. As per a Rajya Sabha report, 30 marshals were deployed to control the lingering ruckus, of which 12 were women. After the ruckus, the opposition parties staged a walkout over the presence of security personnel during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. 

Image: PTI