6 TMC MPs Suspended for the Day over Ruckus Based on Rule 255 of Rajya Sabha Rules of Business

A bulletin released by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday said that six members of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress would be suspended for the rest of the day from attending the proceedings of the House. The list includes the names of MPs Dola Sen, Arpita Ghosh, Mohammad Nadeem UL Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chetri and Mausam Noor. Chairman of the House M Venkaiah Naidu also met leaders from various parties to discuss the issue of repeated disruptions in the proceedings during the ongoing monsoon session, sources told CNN-News18.

The lawmakers have been suspended based on Rule 255 of the rules of business in the Rajya Sabha for creating ruckus in the House and going into the well. As per Rule 255, “the Chairman may direct any member whose conduct is in his opinion grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Council and any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the remainder of the day’s meeting”.

This is the second set of actions that have been taken by the Rajya Sabha against Trinamool Congress MPs after senior lawmaker Dr Santanu Sen was suspended for the remainder of the monsoon session of Parliament two weeks ago. Amid an ongoing row over the Pegasus snooping issue between the Centre and opposition, Sen had snatched a statement on the matter from electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha and torn it into pieces.

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Following the developments, TMC’s Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien put out a tweet.

Ruckus has been repeatedly witnessed in the Upper House of Parliament where members from opposition parties have been demanding that the home minister and the Prime Minister discuss the Pegasus issue.

​According to sources, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu met leaders of various parties on Wednesday, including those whose members have been disrupting the proceedings of the House and also those who have not been doing so and have instead been demanding smooth functioning. ​During the course of discussions individually and in groups before the House met and after the first adjournment, Naidu expressed concern over the disruptions for the 12th day and urged the leaders to do the needful to enable a return of normalcy in the proceedings in the context of a broad agreement among various sections of the House to discuss farmers’ issues, price rise, unemployment, etc, in the context of the economic situation in the country, said the sources.

Naidu also said that as per the rules and conventions of the House, such issues on which there is an agreement between the government and the opposition are taken up for discussion and, accordingly, he has more than once urged both the sides to work on the agenda of the House, they added.

​As leaders of some parties who are not involved in the ongoing disruptions have been voicing concern to the Chairman over losing opportunities of participation in the House due to the ruckus since the start of this session, Naidu called them on Wednesday and gave an account of the efforts he has been making to resolve the present stalemate in the House, the sources. He informed the leaders that a broad understanding has now emerged in the House to discuss farmers’ issues, price rise and unemployment and this should be taken advantage of, given the importance of these matters, they revealed.

​According to the sources, when some leaders raised the issue of a few members of the House having been named today, Naidu responded that he had to do so out of deep concern and anguish over the course of events in the Rajya Sabha since the start of the monsoon session and amid reports that some parties have publicly vowed to ensure a washout.

​On a request for a lenient view on the daylong suspension of the TMC lawmakers, Naidu said that he was bound to uphold the dignity of the House and he was constrained to act when the matters are taken to the extreme over a period of 12 days, said the sources.

​On a proposal that the “named” members be given an opportunity to “regret” their actions, he noted that the lawmakers don’t need permission of the Chair to do so, they added.

​The Chairman discussed the situation in the Rajya Sabha with MPs M Thambidurai, Prasanna Acharya, Ram Gopal Yadav, Jairam Ramesh, Deepender Hooda and Ram Nath Thakur, said the sources, besides Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal.

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