NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi on Sunday released a video of the Rajya Sabha scuffle in the last day of the Monsoon session to allege that the Opposition had been disrespectful of the Chair.
In a series of tweets, Joshi posted a video of the ruckus created during the last days of the Monsoon session that led to the suspension of 12 MPs and tagging Ramesh said, "As people's representatives, it is the duty of parliamentarians to respect the Chair and behave in a manner worthy of their standing."
However, Ramesh's colleagues chose disruption over debate.
"It was unfortunate as the whole country witnessed their sheer hooliganism," the Parliamentary Affairs minister said.
It prompted a fierce response from senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh who questioned the presence of police in the lobbies, as only Rajya Sabha security personnel are allowed to maintain security within the house chambers and lobbies.
The first shot was fired when Joshi posted the video (see pix) over the issue of the suspension of the 12 MPs from the Rajya Sabha in the Winter session of Parliament.
Shared the short video on his Twitter handle, the minister sought to keep up the pressure on the Opposition MPs.
The government all through the Winter session of Parliament had maintained that the suspended Opposition MPs needed to apologise before the Chair could consider the decision of the suspension.
Joshi argued that the MPs being representatives of the people needed to show respect to the Chair.
He also took potshot at the Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh. With the video of the last day of the Rajya Sabha session in the Monsoon session when the House had passed the farm laws in din, Joshi alleged that the suspended MPs had indulged in hooliganism.
The BJP floor leaders, incidentally, has always been arguing that the suspended MPs in the Rajya Sabha had indulged in scuffle with the Marshall, including women personnel, which is unbecoming of MPs.
He further said the government was always ready to withdraw the suspension had these 12 MPs apologised, but they were only justifying their actions.
"You must not lose your way while pleasing RaGa (Rahul Gandhi). Do tell him about respect being commanded and not demanded," Joshi said, pointing at Ramesh, and added that "'to err is human but to repeatedly justify it is foolish".
Responding to Joshi’s remarks, Ramesh tweeted, “You mustn’t lose your way spreading lies to please NaMo (Narendra Modi), who himself is the Jagadguru of Jhoot (master of lies). Repeating what I said in the House’ if the government is accommodative, then the opposition is responsive.”
He asserted that the onus is on the government to ensure that Parliament functions.
Hitting back at Joshi for releasing the video, which Ramesh described was not a legal thing to do, the Congress leader questioned the presence of Delhi police personnel in the lobbies that day, as only Rajya Sabha security personnel are allowed to maintain security within the house chambers and lobbies.
He also tweeted the letter of Leader of Opposition written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on the issue.
Twelve members of opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day following a motion brought in by the government.
On the last days of the session, one more MP TMC floor leader Derek O'Brien was also suspended for the session.
The members faced action for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.
The suspended 12 members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena and one each from CPI and CPM.
The suspended MPs were -- Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.
Throughout the session, these MPs sat in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the parliament complex to protest against their suspension.
(With PTI Inputs)