Farmers Movement Archive

Chaos in House: Oppn MPs tear placards, blow whistle

At least nine Congress leaders tore placards -- they’d brought in these with protest messages on them -- and threw them in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and an unidentified lawmaker blew a whistle in the Rajya Sabha as a determined Opposition continued its protests against the Pegasus snooping row and the three farm laws, seeking an adjournment motion to discuss the former in the lower house. The government, however, managed to clear a bill each in the two houses, pushing ahead with its legislative agenda after it became clear that the Opposition was keen on not allowing the house to function.Congress MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla, TN Prathapan, Manickam Tagore, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Hibi Eden, Jothimani Sennimalai, Saptagiri Ulaka, V Vaithilingam, and the Communist Party of India’s AM Ariff have been identified by the authorities as involved in throwing papers on the Chair of the House. Last week, Trinamool Congress MP Shantanu Sen was suspended from Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the session after he snatched papers from IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and tore it in the House.According to a senior official, “the authorities are yet to decide if these Lok Sabha MPs should also be suspended or not.”Some of the MPs involved previously faced suspension for throwing papers at the Chair in March 2020.The government maintained that it is ready for any debate . Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur later said, “Government is ready for a discussion. If the Opposition (member) snatches the statement from hands of Minister and tears it, and if they throw pieces of paper on the Speaker and a minister replying in the house, then this is not right for democracy,”A bill to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 was passed by the Rajya Sabha while the Insolvency and Backruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill was cleared in the Lok Sabha in flat six minutes.An Opposition leader claimed that a senior government floor manager told them that as there was no sign of normalcy, the government needed to push two bills a day to meet its legislative agenda for the session.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders jointly submitted an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping controversy in the “presence of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and/or (Union) Home minister (Amit Shah)”.The motion was submitted after Opposition parties met twice on Tuesday and Wednesday and decided to move it together as part of a united strategy. Representatives of 14 Opposition parties attended the second meeting under Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s chairmanship on Wednesday.“Sitting with the entire Opposition is extremely humbling. Amazing experience, wisdom, and insights from everyone present,” Gandhi said.Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress , which could not attend the meeting said his party is with the other Opposition parties.Leaders of 10 Opposition parties earlier met on Tuesday. “...there will be better coordination among all of us as the government does not want to discuss the matter (alleged snooping) at all,’’ said one of the leaders, requesting anonymity.Kharge and Manickam Tagore submitted adjournment motions earlier in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.The Pegasus row erupted on August 18 before the beginning of Parliament’s ongoing monsoon session after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen, and journalists were potentially targeted by the Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software Pegasus. A forensic analysis of phones of 10 of the targets in India proved they had been hacked or that there had been attempts to do so.Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Congress can’t even handle its internal troubles, “but is hell-bent on forcing its views on other Opposition parties.”

Hindustan Times

29-07-2021

India