Big row and new twist as new video shows 'woman Marshal' assaulted in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: 

“We demand that Rajya Sabha Chairman should take stringent action against those opposition MPs who broke rules,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said. He claimed the opposition move was 'pre-decided' by Congress and its friendly allies during the Monsoon Session.  

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, said that the Secretary General’s table in Rajya Sabha is not meant for 'dancing and protesting'. 

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Leader of Rajya Sabha, accused the Opposition of manhandling marshals, and said their “my way or highway” approach is “highly condemnable”.

"See the mindset, video recording of House proceedings cannot be recorded, but they did so and also tweeted" - Parl. Aff Minister Pralhad Joshi 

#Opposition should not shed crocodile tears on pandemonium created by them in #Parliament, says I&B Minister @AnuragThakur 

"Opposition is not able to digest the people's mandate in 2014 and 2019...Specially Congress, they feel the chair is our birth right and why Modi is sitting there" - Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi:

There is a new twist to the tale of ‘manhandling’ of a female marshal in Rajya Sabha as a video footage has gone viral showing most opposition Members of Parliament watching silently as a few women MPs allegedly try to drag the security personnel.

The video footage showed the ‘woman marshal’ was virtually gheraoed by a group of women MPs and holding her by hand and almost pushed her down.

The footage as reported by TimesNow came to light on Thursday afternoon close on the heels of the opposition members including Rahul Gandhi alleging that ‘outsiders’ were put into service to humiliate, heckle and manhandle opposition members.

The gory episode of an unruly scene in Rajya Sabha that first came to light on August 10 after Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa jumped onto the Reporters’ table and hurled papers towards the chair had forced adjournment of both Houses of Parliament sine die.

The Monsoon Session was to continue till August 13 but was cut short and adjourned on Wednesday, August 11.

The Rajya Sabha episode was condemned strongly by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who also broke down in the House on Wednesday while reading out a prepared statement.

He also said he “could not sleep” on August 10 night and said in a choked voice: “I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night..... last night”.

Chhaya Verma, Congress MP from Chhattisgarh, was allegedly in the group of MPs on the fresh video. 

When contacted by the television channel, Ms Verma said : "the male Marshals were pushing the ‘woman Marshal’ to attack us".

Trinamool MP Dola Sena, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, told the channel that new video footage is "fake".

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday, "We demand that a special committee be set up to look into the incidents of gross indiscipline by Opposition members and strict action be taken. Opposition's intentions were on full display".

The government sources have said that the disruption of the House was pre-planned and "washing out" the session was their ultimate goal right from day one.
Goyal also said, "Opposition members even tried to stop me and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister from coming out of our chambers. This is unfortunate".

The opposition MPs took out a march on Thursday to protest the curtailment of the Monsoon Session.

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Govt pushes for actions against errant MPs: PM, Sonia meet Speaker Birla

New Delhi: The government and the ruling BJP are all for enforcement of discipline among the members in both the Houses of Parliament and have placed a strong demand for constituting a special committee.

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said, "We demand that a special committee be set up to look into the incidents of gross indiscipline by Opposition members and strict action be taken. Opposition's intentions were on full display".

The government sources have said that the disruption of the House was pre-planned and "washing out" the session was their ultimate goal right from day one.

Goyal also spoke about attempts being made to attack the chair, table staff and the Secretary General. 

"Opposition members even tried to stop me & the parliamentary affairs minister from coming out of our chambers. 

This is unfortunate. Such behaviour should never be tolerated by the House & the country," he said. 

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and other floor leaders of various parties met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Addressing a press conference, the Speaker expressed his disappointment and hinted that more stringent norms may be framed to enforce discipline and uphold decorum and dignity of Parliament. 

In Lok Sabha, the productivity in this session was 22 per cent. 

Rajya Sabha has recorded a productivity of 28% during the Monsoon Session. 
A total of 17 sittings were held in the House that functioned for 28 hours and 21 minutes. 

According to sources, 76 hours and 26 minutes were lost due to disruptions and only 19 Bills were passed.

On average, despite disruption, it made about 1.1 Bill passage every day.

This was also the second highest since 2014, but most Bills were approved without discussions.
  
This reflects the commitment and the ability of the government to drive legislative agenda in Parliament, which aims to fulfil the aspirations of the citizens, a government source said.

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu broke down in the House on Wednesday for the unruly behaviour of Congress member Partap Singh Bajwa and other opposition members.

In 2019, Naidu had earlier emphasised that neither he nor the House would be pressured by tendentious conduct and comments of members. 

“I am saying this out of agony and keeping the dignity and public image of the House," he had said.

"I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night.....last night," he said in a choked voice on Wednesday, August 11.

Lok Sabha Speaker tweeted a brief video footage of members and floor leaders
sitting with him after the just-concluded session of Parliament, where the Opposition and the treasury bench remained daggers drawn.

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