Rajya Sabha disrupted by uproar over Manipur violence, AAP MP's suspension

Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Monday rocked by the opposition uproar over Manipur violence and suspension of AAP MP Sanjay Singh from the House for the remainder of the Monsoon session.

When the Upper House of Parliament reassembled at 3 pm, having been adjourned three times earlier in the day, following heated exchanges between Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and TMC's Derek O'Brien over the issue of party affiliations of those submitting notices on the Manipur issue and suspension of Singh, noisy scenes resumed as Deputy Chairman Harivansh asked the AAP MP to leave the House.

Singh was on Monday suspended from Rajya Sabha for the rest of the Monsoon session for repeatedly "violating" the directives of the Chair while protesting on the Manipur issue.

 

Opposition parties condemned the action against Singh and accused the government of trying to throttle their voice.

"Sanjay Singh has been suspended... I had asked him to leave the House. Despite my appeal, the member did not leave the House and that led to the one-hour adjournment of the proceedings. Now when the House has re-assembled, Singh is still seated on his seat," Harivansh said.

He further said, "..as per rules the member has to leave the House after suspension... the member has not followed it till now... I ask him again to leave the House. Please leave and let the House function."

Many opposition members were on their feet and shouted "Manipur, Manipur" following which the deputy chairman adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier, when the House reassembled for the post lunch session at 2 pm, Harivansh informed that Singh has been named by the chairman and suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon session following a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal.

Citing rules, he asked Singh to leave the House as suspended members are not supposed to participate in its proceedings.

Various opposition members protested the move and wanted to raise points on the order which was disallowed by the deputy chairman. With the opposition members shouting slogans, he adjourned the House for an hour till 3 pm.

Singh's suspension came after Goyal moved a motion in the morning session and it was adopted by the House by a voice vote.

Before that, Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar named Singh for his "unruly behaviour" and cautioned him.

Singh had rushed to the well of the House and was pointing at the Chair while seeking a discussion on Manipur when he was cautioned.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, however, continued to protest in the House even after he was suspended and the Rajya Sabha was adjourned.

When the Upper House assembled on Monday, the proceedings were adjourned for almost an hour following heated exchanges between Dhankhar and TMC's Derek O'Brien over the chair not mentioning the party affiliations of opposition members seeking a discussion on the Manipur issue.

Dhankhar read out the names of the MPs and the political parties they are affiliated with while detailing the 11 notices received under rule 176, mostly from treasury benches, seeking short-duration discussions over violence in states ranging from Rajasthan to Manipur.

But when he started to read out the notices received under rule 267 from MPs of opposition parties who sought to set aside the business of the day to take up the Manipur issue, he did not mention the party affiliations.

O'Brien asked the chairman to also mention the parties of the MPs who had given notices under rule 267, just like he did for MPs giving notices under rule 176.

Dhankhar asked O'Brien to take his seat, but the TMC leader was not in a relenting mood.

"You are challenging the Chair," Dhankhar remarked before adjourning the proceedings till 1200 hours.