Detailed consideration on, appropriate view at the earliest, Naidu says on unruly scenes in Rajya Sabha

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

A day after the government demanded a high-level committee to look into the conduct of some opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said detailed consideration of the issue was under way and an appropriate view would be taken at the earliest.

“Detailed consideration is under way and an appropriate view would be taken at the earliest,” Naidu said while interacting with a group of journalists.

The chairman said the opposition and the ruling party were “like his two eyes and both were equal for him and a proper vision was possible with two eyes”.

He said that on many occasions it was the collective responsibility of both the sides to enable smooth functioning of the House.

“If anybody held a different view about my handling of the proceedings in the House, I would leave it to their wisdom,” Naidu said.

​On the issue of persistent disruptions, Naidu said the legislatures are meant for debate and discussion and outside political battles should not be fought on the ‘table of the House’.

​On the action being contemplated against some unruly scenes in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session, Naidu said that after detailed consideration, which is under way, an appropriate view would be taken at the earliest.

​After Opposition leader and Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that only 12 per cent of the bills were being sent for parliamentary scrutiny in committees and also how the Constitution (127th) Amendment Bill wasn’t sent to a select committee despite opposition demands, Naidu said whenever differences persisted on such matters in the House, the House collectively took a call and the Chair “could not force it one way or the other”.

The government has demanded a committee on the lines of the one former speaker Somnath Chatterjee formed to probe the role of MPs in the cash for query scam in 2005.

The committee then headed by Congress minister Pawan Bansal recommended expulsion of 11 MPs.

The Parliament later voted to expel all MPs.

An internal Rajya Sabha committee has named some MPs, including Trinamool Congress’ Dola Sen, Congress’ Nasir Husain, Phulo Devi Nehtam and Chhaya Verma, CPM’s Elamaram Kareem and CPI’s Binoy Vishwam among those who allegedly took part in the August 11 ruckus.

The internal committee report also says that two marshals—a woman allegedly dragged by two Congress women MPs and a male who suffocated after being allegedly caught by the neck by an MP attempting to break the cordon—have filed complaints with Naidu.

The internal security report says that the marshals had cordoned the table of the House during the passage of insurance amendment bill on August 11 and the opposition MPs “started using force when they were unable to break the security cordon to climb on the table”.

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