Farmers Movement Archive

Rajya Sabha dy chair's remarks on suspended MP spark row

NEW DELHI: A day after 6 Trinamool MPs were suspended from Rajya Sabha for a day, a row broke out on Thursday when Deputy chairman Harivansh called a suspended member's conduct "highly deplorable and condemnable" while alleging that the MP, during the adjournment of the House on Wednesday, had broken the glass of a door, injuring a woman member of the security staff. However, the Opposition accused the deputy chairman for "supporting the wrong narrative" of the incident. Union minister Piyush Goyal said the chamber was closed for sanitisation and the MPs were trying to enter the chamber during that time. Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the suspended MPs had returned to collect their belongings and "in the commotion, the glass pane was broken". As the TMC and other opposition MPs opposed the remarks, the House was adjourned. But despite the continued impasse over the Pegasus row and several other issues, Rajya Sabha managed to pass three important bills-the Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order (Amendment) Bill, the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill and the Essential Defence Services Bill. On the defence services bill, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh assured that House that it was not going to come in the way of anybody's right to protest peacefully. Congress accused the government of using the commotion to rush through the bill. Even while speaking on the bills, the opposition MPs kept raising issues related to snooping, farm laws and fuel price hike. Earlier in the House, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge blamed the Centre for the stalemate and claimed that he had got a call from Rajnath Singh saying that he would resolve the issue once back from abroad, but no member of the opposition had got any official invite for any meeting. Singh said he had not given any assurance and had only said that the House should hold proper discussion and the pandemonium should stop. Proceedings in Lok Sabha were also marred by opposition protests. After repeated adjournments when the House met at 5 pm, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The bill seeks to amend the Income Tax Act of 1961 and the Finance Act of 2021. Earlier amid the din, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 202, that seeks to amend the Central Universities Act, 2009 for establishment of a university in the Union Territory of Ladakh. When the House met for the day, Speaker Om Birla congratulated the Indian hockey team for its Olympic medal after 41 years as well as women who won medals at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Times of India

2021-08-06

India