The government hardened its stance against the call to lift the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs on Wednesday, saying it was “unfortunate” that senior Opposition leaders are “unwilling to repent” for their colleagues’ actions during the August Monsoon Session.
During the August 11 disturbances, Speaker of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal claimed that the suspended MPs “pushed female marshals and attempted to strangle male marshals,” claims denied by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.
According to Kharge, the Opposition is being held accountable for “crimes it did not commit.” “The [August] 11th and 10th incidents are two independent incidents,” he stated. However, their charges are based on the events of October 10th… The country and the House of Representatives are being mislead. Based on the events of August 11th, this action was taken.”
After the Opposition MPs escalated their protests in response to Goyal’s statement, a short discussion on the issue arising out of cases of the Omicron version of Covid-19 in the country was cut short and the House adjourned until Thursday.
Opposition MPs were also offended when BJP MP Shiv Pratap Shukla referred to them as “Omicron.” Manoj Jha, a member of the RJD, questioned Shukla’s remarks as inappropriate.
