Govt deliberately suspended MPs to pass Bill: Kharge

Karge alleged the government deliberately suspended 12 MPs to pass the Electoral Reforms Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha. TMC MP Derek O'Brien joins list as the 13th one to have been suspended from the House.

New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday alleged that the government suspended MPs to pass the Bills in haste.

On Tuesday, the House suspended Trinamool Congress MP Derek O' Brien.

Kharge said, "The government wanted to pass the Bills easily so it deliberately suspended the 12 MPs. We had requested the government to revoke the suspension a number of times so that the House could run smoothly but they refused to do so."

Suspended MP Derek O'Brien also joined the protesting 12 MPs in Parliament premises.

Trinamool Congress floor leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien becomes 13th MP to be suspended for the remaining part of the winter session after the resolution was moved for his suspension by Minister of State (MoS) Parliamentary Affairs V. Muraleedharan on Tuesday.

The incident occurred during the passing of the Bill on electoral reforms. The government on Tuesday faced stiff resistance from the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha and the BJP alleged that Trinamool Congress member Derek O'Brien threw the rule book on the Secretary-General.

Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal said, "We thought that the opposition would learn some lessons, but the same thing has been repeated."

Goyal said Derek O'Brien threw the rule book and he should not have done it. Goyal also sought an apology from the 12 suspended MPs.

Bhupender Yadav raised a point of order and said that the opposition has been questioning the Chair repeatedly, but rules say that the Chair's ruling is binding on all.

After being suspended from the Rajya Sabha, O'Brien said in a tweet, "The last time I got suspended from RS was when govt was BULLDOZING #FarmLaws. We all know what happened after that. Today, I was suspended while protesting against BJP making a mockery of #Parliament and BULLDOZING #ElectionLawsBill2021. Hope this Bill too will be repealed soon."

Earlier, the Upper House had suspended 12 MPs for the entire winter session for creating a ruckus in the House during the monsoon session on August 11. The suspended 12 MPs are from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI-M and the Shiv Sena.

IANS