Opposition leaders meet Venkaiah Naidu, seek suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha members be revoked

Leaders of 16 opposition parties on Tuesday met Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and urged him to revoke the suspension of 12 opposition MPs from the Upper House. A day after the 12 MPs were suspended, Opposition leaders held a meeting in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. According to sources, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meeting. The Trinamool Congress did not participate in the opposition meeting even though two of its MPs have also been suspended for the remainder of the Winter session.

The opposition leaders led by Kharge later met Naidu and urged him to revoke the suspension of the members, the sources said. Leaders of some parties also contemplated boycotting the House but some members did not agree to this suggestion, the sources said. Leaders of the DMK, NCP, Shiv Sena, CPI and CPI-M, RJD, TRS, IUML, RSP, MDMK, LJD, NC, Kerala Congress, VCK and AAP, besides that of the Congress were present at the meeting. Twelve opposition MPs were on Monday suspended for the remainder of the session for their unruly behaviour and misconduct during the last day of the Monsoon session on August 11, after the government moved a motion in this regard. Leaders of 12 opposition parties had on Monday condemned the government for bringing the motion that led to the suspension of the 12 members. The opposition leaders termed the suspension “unwarranted and undemocratic”, and alleged that the action was in violation of all rules and procedures of the Upper House. The suspended MPs are — six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM. The motion to suspend Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and Binoy Viswam of CPI was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi.