Khushi Vats, Pune
Raghav Chadha, the Aam Aadmi Party MP, was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on the alleged grounds of naming four MPs in a house panel, without their consent, on Friday. It was called a violation of rules and “a breach of privilege” on Raghav Chadha’s part.
Rajya Sabha gave a green signal to a resolution moved by the leader of the house, Piyush Goyal. The resolution stated the suspension of Chadha until a committee submits its findings on the previous cases of “breach of privileges” in the house. While lashing Chadha, Goyal called his behavior an “outrageous disregard of the rules”.
MPs like Narhari Amin, M Thambidurai, Sambit Patra, and S Phangnon Konyak, had filed a complaint against Chadha for using their names without their consent in violation of the Conduct of Business and Rules of Procedure during a given motion. “All six members of the Parliament are hurt and looking to the chair for justice”, said Piyush Goyal.
Chadha proposed to make a committee to consider the Delhi Services Bill, during which he included the names of several MPs. Sanjay Singh, another MP from AAP, was also suspended a few days ago and the period of his suspension has been extended. Raghav Chadha further slammed the ruling party for targeting a 34-year-old MP because he was questioning their strongest leaders. He has challenged BJP MPs to show proof of their claim in the upper house.
“Their mantra is ‘repeat a lie a thousand times, and it becomes the truth’. Following the mantra, a misinformation campaign was launched against me. That’s why I had to come before you today to clear the air,” he said.
“Whenever some controversial bill comes to the House and an MP wants this bill to be discussed before a vote, he recommends sending it to a select committee. Names of MPs are proposed for this process. Those who don’t wish to be part of the committee can withdraw their names. When there is not any signature involved, then how can it be forged?” he added.