The recent suspension of 12 protesting MPs from the upper house of the parliament has sent Congress-led opposition into a frenzy. Their insistence on being unapologetic about their shameful unparliamentarily behavior has invited a vast swathe of criticism from dignified members like Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, and Chairman himself.
Pralhad Joshi exposes the opposition’s hypocritical stand
At a time when our Parliament was having an intense discussion about the regulation of cryptocurrency in the country, some members were acting like a crybaby over the suspension order of 12 MPs. Soon, ministers from the ruling BJP also decided to take charge in responding to unfiltered attacks on Parliament’s and Chairman’s dignity.
Pralhad Joshi, the union minister of parliamentary affairs did not hold back in calling the opposition ‘insolent’. He added that MPs had crossed all boundaries and the government was left with no other option, except to suspend them. In a statement to ANI, Shri Joshi said, “Opposition was insolent, they didn’t let the PM introduce the ministers even, at the start of the Monsoon Session. DolaSen (TMC MP) placed a hanging loop on ShantaChettri’s (TMC MP) neck. They blew whistles, behaved inappropriately, and climbed on top of tables.”
The suspension came after various rounds of peace-making deliberations
The honourable Minister also disclosed that the government decided to suspend these MPs only when they refused to offer regret and apology in front of the house. “PiyushGoyal and I repeatedly requested them that we are ready to close this chapter if they express regret and say this won’t happen again in front of the chamber, but they still denied it. We didn’t want this, but keeping the chamber’s dignity, we had no other option,” he added.
Even during the monsoon session, Shri Joshi had castigated male and female MPs for beating marshals in the parliament. He had laid it wide open for the people to see the footage and decide whether MPs were guilty of the Marshals. In his statement, he also condemned the opposition MPs for dancing on tables of the parliament. Deriding MPs for their privileged arrogant behaviors,, Shri Joshi had said,” They [the MPs] have so many privileges. What did they do on the 9th? Is the table meant for writing or is it for dancing in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha?”
Piyush Goyal details the gundagardi of opposition MPs
Meanwhile, Commerce Minister PiyushGoyal has also come forward to support the suspension of unruly MPs. ShriGoyal presented a more detailed description of mobocracy by honourable parliamentarians. He informed that MPs resorted to breaking glasses, climbing on tables, snatching and throwing parliamentary papers, hooting, whistling, and disrespecting the chair.
Meanwhile, when Marshals of the parliament went to stop these goonda behaviors by MPs, they attacked Marshals too. Shri Goyal appreciated Marshals for exercising restraint and not physically thrashing MPs misbehaving with them. Elaborating on the reasons behind suspension, Shri Goyal said, “I want to congratulate the parliament officials who bore the brunt of such an attack. But when one member almost attacked the chair, there was no choice but to suspend for a day.” He informed that due to these MPs, PM Modi could not important various important bills in the parliament.
Shri Goyal also informed that they had offered to form a committee to deal with such kind of mobocracy, but the opposition denied it. “We suggested that a committee be formed to deal with the matter. However, many Opposition parties refused to be a part of it. Their contention that such a panel can only work when the House is in session is wrong as the House is constant. So it is the House’s decision to suspend. They can make a mistake but they should apologize as everyone can make a mistake.” added Piyush Goyal.
Vice-President refused to revoke the suspension
Earlier, Vice President Shri Venkaiayah Naidu had also refused to revoke the suspension of unruly MPs. In his statement, VC said, “The members who had committed the sacrilege against the house have not shown remorse. So, I think the appeal by the Opposition [to revoke the suspensions] is not worth considering,”
Read more: They suspended members with impunity, now when their own are suspended they can’t take it
Rajya Sabha- No longer the house of elders
The recent ruckus in the upper house of the parliament has defeated the whole purpose of establishing the Rajya Sabha. This is a result of the arrogance that is becoming part of the Rajya Sabha. The fact remains that the Rajya Sabha is perceived as the House of Elders, that is, a body that could make up for the lack of prudence in the lower House.
However, in the Indian context, the Rajya Sabha has become a destination for the senior-most members of the political parties who are either incapable of getting elected to the Lok Sabha or those who don’t want to contest polls. So, the Upper House membership has become a symbol of political power and influence and is no longer a means of checking heated passions in the Lok Sabha.
Read more: Gangs of Rajya Sabha: RS MPs showed the arrogance typical of unelected representatives
After about seven years of hooliganism in the parliament, finally, the Modi government decided to act against the ‘people’s representative’. Quite frankly, representing people and putting forward their problems is supposed to be a passionate job, but these MPs have converted it into a performance art designed to draw an audience. Law-abiding citizens must be having a sense of peace over the suspension.