Kharge said the TMC leader was only demanding a statement by the Home Minister on the security breach issue in Parliament.
Published Dec 18, 2023 | 3:01 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 18, 2023 | 3:01 PM
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (kharge/Twitter)
AICC president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday, 18 December, wrote to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him to revoke the suspension of Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien.
Kharge said the TMC leader was only demanding a statement by the Home Minister on the security breach issue in Parliament.
“All he (O’ Brien) was trying to do was to attract your attention to raise the collective demand of INDIA parties for a statement by the Minister of Home Affairs on the shocking incident that took place in Lok Sabha on 13 December,” the Congress leader said.
He said the home minister not speaking on the issue is a “breach of Parliamentary traditions and conventions”.
“These are legitimate demands. It is a breach of Parliamentary traditions and conventions that the Minister of Home Affairs can speak about the events of 13 December at a media function but refuses to say anything about it in the form of a statement in Parliament when the House is in session,” he said.
On 14 December, O’Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha, while 13 MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the session for disrupting the proceedings of the House while protesting against the Parliament security breach incident.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankar asked the members to lay the reports of the parliamentary committees in the House.
But after the reports were placed, 28 MPs served notices under rule 267 of Parliament — suspension of business to take up urgent issues — to discuss the security breach.
“These notices do not merit admittance,” Dhankar, however, said, provoking Opposition members to raise slogans insisting on a discussion.
Chairman Dhankhar named O’Brien and warned him about his conduct and adjourned the House till 12 noon.
When the session started after the adjournment, O’Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha by the chairman for the remainder of the Winter Session for his “unruly behaviour” and “misconduct”.
Accusing O’Brien of violating the directions of the Chair and for disrupting the proceedings of the House, the chairman allowed Leader of the House Piyush Goyal to move a motion in this regard.
The motion was adopted by a voice vote and the chairman announced that O’Brien was suspended from the House for the remainder of the session.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack last Wednesday, two men — Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D — jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released coloured smoke, and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.
Two others, including a woman, were detained outside the Parliament complex for staging a protest.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had on Sunday urged the Lok Sabha Speaker to revoke the suspension of 13 Opposition members.
Speaker Om Birla has said the suspension of the MPs has nothing to do with the 13 December incident.
(With PTI inputs)
