Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien was allowed to attend Rajya Sabha hours after a motion was moved for his suspension for the remainder of the Monsoon Session for his alleged unruly behaviour on Tuesday, reported PTI.
Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha chairperson and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all notices by Opposition MPs seeking suspension of business. However, O’Brien stood to raise a point of order, saying that the Opposition was willing to take part in a discussion on the ethnic violence in Manipur but not in the way the government wanted it.
Dhankhar, however, said that the Trinamool Congress MP should specify the rule under which he sought to raise a point of order, rather than giving a speech.
O’Brien later engaged in a heated verbal exchange with Dhankhar, even as the chairperson asked him to sit down.
The chairperson then said that he was “naming” O’Brien. As per parliamentary rules, an MP named by the chairperson has to withdraw from the House proceedings for the rest of the day.
Leader of the House Piyush Goyal subsequently moved a motion seeking O’Brien’s suspension from the House for allegedly engaging in unruly behaviour and disobeying the chairperson. As soon as he started speaking, Trinamool Congress MPs rushed to the Well of the House and shouted slogans, PTI reported.
Dhankhar later said that O’Brien was suspended for the rest of the Monsoon Session. The session is slated to end on August 11.
However, the Trinamool Congress legislator was back in the Rajya Sabha when the session resumed as the motion to suspend him was not put to vote.
“If he had left the House, he would not have been able to enter again,” Dhankar said, reported PTI. “I did not take the sense of the House earlier. If I had really fructified the process, Derek O’Brien would have been out of the House.”
Dhankar said that he is obligated to ensure to an extreme degree that the House runs smoothly.
However, Congress MP KC Venugopal alleged said that O’Brien’s anger was not aimed at Dhankhar but came out of the “mental pain” in the House, reported PTI. He also said that Goyal read out from an already prepared letter that showed the move for O’Brien’s suspension was pre-planned.
The development came ahead of a discussion in the Lok Sabha on a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the Centre. The Opposition INDIA alliance has moved the motion citing the government’s alleged failure to control the violence in Manipur, which has left at least 187 persons dead.
On Monday, Dhankhar had accused the Trinamool Congress leader of engaging in theatrics during a debate on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, according to NDTV. The bill, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha after an eight-hour debate, gives the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government control over the postings and transfers of bureaucrats in Delhi.
On July 24, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was also suspended for the rest of the Monsoon Session for alleged unruly behaviour.
Singh, along with other Opposition MPs, had been demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak on the situation in Manipur in the Rajya Sabha. However, when the request was not accepted, the Aam Aadmi Party MP went to the Well of the House to press the demand.
Dhankhar then suspended Singh for the rest of the session for repeatedly violating his directives.
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