With the Delhi Services Bill out of the way, Opposition and government in no-holds barred battle in the Rajya Sabha

Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar announced the suspension of TMC floor leader Derek O’ Brien in the morning session, only to drop the issue altogether when the House sat after the lunch break

Rajya Sabha proceedings during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on August 8, 2023. | Photo Credit: ANI

 

With the Delhi Services Bill out of the way, it was a no-holds barred battle in the Upper House on August 8. Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar first announced Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’ Brien’s suspension for disregarding his directions, but later dropped the matter altogether. This kept the House engaged for the best part of the pre-lunch session. The Opposition also submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against the Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal, for calling them (the Opposition) “traitors”.

By all indications, the Rajya Sabha will see a high voltage exchange in its last three sittings of the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

At 11.20 a.m., when Mr. O’ Brien rose to raise a point of order demanding a debate on Manipur, the Rajya Sabha Chairperson took a “strong view” on Mr. O’ Brien’s use of an opportunity that’s conventionally meant for stating a rule position to make a political comment.

Mr. Dhankhar named Mr. O’ Brien for misconduct asked him to leave the House.

Mr. Goyal moved a motion to suspend Mr. O’ Brien for the remainder of the session for “continuously and wilfully” disturbing the proceedings.

“Mr. Derek O’Brien is directed to leave the House; he is suspended for the rest of the session. The House is adjourned to meet at 12 noon today,” Mr. Dhankhar said, suspending the Rajya Sabha for 30 minutes.

When the House met at noon, Mr. Dhankhar sought the members’ views on whether they approved of Mr. O’Brien’s conduct.

The Question Hour was not taken up. Instead, the Treasury Benches launched a counter attack. Citing an article from The New York Times, they raised slogans accusing the INDIA bloc parties of colluding with China.

A bitter exchange followed between the two sides, with the INDIA grouping of parties strongly objecting to Mr. Goyal’s statement. Another adjournment followed.

Even after reconvening, the House could not function.

“Today, the floor leaders of INDIA parties in the Rajya Sabha submitted a privilege motion against Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for addressing the Opposition as ‘all of them traitors’,” the Congress’ Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh told The Hindu.

In a related development, in the Lok Sabha, Congress MPs expressed dismay over expunged portions of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s remarks on the same issue that, to their surprise, was found to have been restored on Tuesday morning. “This morning, suddenly and mysteriously, all the expunged portions have returned to the Parliament website, so that the defamatory and libellous accusation remain on the record. What is the worth of the rules of Parliament if they can be violated with impunity by a ruling party member?” Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor told reporters. 

When the Rajya Sabha met at 2 p.m., it was widely anticipated that Mr. O’ Brien’s suspension would be formalised, but the matter was entirely dropped.

“If O’Brien would have been suspended from the House for this session, do you think he would have been allowed to enter the House again?” Mr. Dhankhar asked.

He added that, for him, taking action against any member is a matter of pain. “I have ended my own pain, no one has done that,” Mr. Dhankar said.