Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday asserted that the suspension of the 12 MPs for the remainder of the ongoing winter session "was to protect democracy and it was the decision of the House and not of the Chair", news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
Naidu reportedly explained various related aspects while responding to the procedural objections to the suspension raised by the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in the House today.
Stating that Rajya Sabha is a continuing institution, Naidu observed that taking action against some MPs on the first day of the current Session for their acts of misconduct on the last day of last Monsoon Session was in order and it was the decision of the House and not of the Chair.
Accordingly, it is not correct to describe the suspension as anti-democratic, he said. He stressed that the Chair and the House are empowered to take appropriate action against the acts of indiscipline by MPs under the Rules of Procedure of the House.
"The Members who have committed this sacrilege against the House, have not expressed any remorse. On the other hand, they are justifying it. So, I don't think the appeal of LoP (Leader of Opposition Kharge for revocation of suspension) is worth considering," Naidu further said.
Meanwhile, members of Congress and other opposition party on Tuesday staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu justified the suspension of 12 MPs for the entire winter session.
The suspended MPs are likely to write to M Venkaiah Naidu and argue against their suspension.
They will also stage a sit-in protest before the Gandhi statue in Parliament tomorrow, reported news agency ANI.
The suspended MPs include six from Congress, two each from TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from CPM and CPI.
The suspended MPs 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.
