Congress, opposition MPs walk out of Rajya Sabha over suspension of 12 MPs

Congress and other opposition party MPs on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu justified the suspension of 12 MPs for the entire winter session of Parliament for their “unruly” conduct in the previous session in August. Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge said the motion for suspension moved by the government was in gross violation of procedure with the chair not even allowing his point of order over the issue.

He urged the chairman to set aside the suspension.

Naidu, however, said the suspension was done by the House and not by the chairman.

The suspended members, he said, have shown no remorse and have instead justified their actions.

“I don’t think the appeal of Leader of Opposition is worth considering,” he added.

Tje Congress, AAP, RJD and Left parties protested raising slogan, but Naidu did not allow it.

They then staged a walkout from the House.

TMC members staged a walkout a short while later when its leader Derek O’Brien said it’s not the opposition but the 80 MPs of the treasury benches who should be suspended as they blocked certain discussions during the previous monsoon session.

The suspended MPs include six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM.