Suspended Rajya Sabha MPs should express remorse to get reinstated into the House, said Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi as the 12 parliamentarians began their sit-in protest against their suspension at the Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises on Wednesday.
“If the 12 suspended members of Rajya Sabha want to come to the House, then they should express remorse. If they wish to sit on dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi (statue), I pray he gives them wisdom,” the minister said. “It was a black day for democracy when an incident happened in the monsoon session of Parliament, because of which they have been suspended. Instead of expressing regret on what they did inside Parliament, they are defending their actions outside Parliament,” Joshi added.
The suspended parliamentarians on Wednesday sat on a protest near the iconic Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises against their suspension from the House.
The MPs include six from Congress, two each from TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from CPM and CPI. The suspended leaders are: Elamaram Kareem (CPM), Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, R. Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress, Binoy Viswam of CPI, Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, with the stalemate continuing between the Opposition and the treasury benches, Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday reiterated that no apology will be made over the conduct of the MPs.
“There will be no apology. We are requesting them to forget what happened and work on the welfare of the people and the country,” Kharge said. The Congress leader on Tuesday wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu requesting him to reconsider the matter of suspension of 12 MPs “in the larger interest of Parliamentary democracy” and revoke the suspensions.
Terming the suspension as “against the Constitution”, Kharge said, “it is our duty to fight for the cause, under the rule of law. In our letter to the RS Chairman, we have described that the suspension is not correct. Our sessions are not continuous. The House is adjourned and then proceedings are started. To compare the Lower House with the Upper House is not correct. Elections for Lower House are frequently held. There is continuity in the Upper House but there is no session continuity. While suspending the MPs, they had said that it is a continuity of the House, thus they are being suspended. We have expressed that it is against the Constitution and thus demanded revocation of suspended MPs.”
In his letter, Kharge termed the suspension as an “unprecedented excessive action” for the unfortunate incidents in the last days of the 2021 Monsoon session of the Rajya Sabha.
“The Monsoon Session of the House concluded on August 11 and was prorogued by the President on August 31. If the House had only been adjourned and then reconvened without any prorogation, the argument of continuity would merit any justification,” Kharge’s letter read. “In view of the aforesaid anomalies and the denial of the right to be heard to the aggrieved members as per the principles of natural justice urge you to reconsider the matter of suspension of 12 MPs in the interest of Parliamentary democracy and revoke the suspension. We much want the House to function smoothly,” it stated.