Amid the continued Opposition protests over the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, the government Wednesday said it was ready to revoke their suspension if they apologise to the House for their "wrong" behaviour. Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal said it was shameful on the part of some Opposition members that they were not even ready to accept the "wrong" behaviour of the suspended members and were not ready to repent. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said, "You would have to apologise and we are open to taking you back." Opposition members continued to protest inside and outside the house and caused disruptions over the suspension of 12 MPs.
Members of several Opposition parties including the Congress, Left, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, AAP and others stormed the Well of the House Wednesday holding placards and raising slogans in support of their demand. They also held placards reading "save democracy" and "suspend me" and criticised the "dictatorial" behaviour of the government.
While leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the demand several times, the government and the Chair said the suspensions will not be revoked till they apologise for their actions. As many as 12 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended on November 29 for the remainder of the winter session for their "unruly" behaviour and "attacking" secretariat staff inside the House on August 11, the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said they respect the sentiment of members, but they also have seen the way lady marshals were "insulted and attacked" in this House. "The government is ready to consider their request but they have to apologise for their acts of attacking the lady marshals and for the way they have behaved with the people who are protecting the security of this House," Goyal said. "It is a matter of shame that they are not even ready to repent for their actions," he also said.
He said all the staff deployed there serve the members help run the house in order. "After attacking and strangulating the marshals, all they have to do is apologise. That is the least courtesy they can show to those who are serving this house, Goyal said. But if they expect that they will attack the marshals and insult lady marshals and then also they have the right to come back, I think that is irregular. It is quite unfortunate that senior members of the opposition are not willing to repent the acts of their colleagues," Goyal said.
Earlier, Sushmita Dev (TMC) raised the issue of suspension saying it is totally undemocratic and illegal". Several other Opposition members also spoke in favour of revoking the suspension of their colleagues and said they should also be allowed to participate in the discussion in the house.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the short duration notice was called over the request of the opposition members including Sushmita Dev, Nadeemul Haque, G K Vasan etc. "These all the opposition party members… we allowed the discussion on their request and started the debate. Despite, on such an important discussion, they do not want to participate," he said, adding the Opposition did not allow them to run Question Hour in the morning.
Over the suspension of the 12 opposition members, Joshi said they had violently attacked the security staff of the house.
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