Govt will move motion seeking suspension of TMC MP Shantanu Sen, say sources

The government will move a motion seeking suspension of Trinamool Congress MP Shantanu Sen for snatching papers from Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, sources said.

They said some opposition MPs “misbehaved” with the treasury bench members, including a minister, even after the House was adjourned.

Mr. Sen snatched papers from Vaishnaw after the TMC, Congress and other opposition party members, who had earlier forced two adjournments of the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, rushed into the well of the House as the minister was called to make a statement on the Pegasus snooping row.

The government will move a motion seeking suspension of Mr. Sen on Friday. Union Minister V. Muraleedharan is expected to move the motion, sources said.

“We are approaching the Rajya Sabha chairman seeking action against them (opposition MPs) as their behaviour is a blow to parliamentary decorum,” a Union minister, who did not wish to be named, said.

Government sources said Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and his deputy Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reached out to the Opposition members and assured them that the minister will reply to their queries after he makes his statement, but in vain.

With Vaishnaw not able to read out the complete statement, it was laid on the table and the House was adjourned. However, the situation remained tense in the House as the two sides engaged in heated exchanges.

Mr. Sen alleged that Union minister Hardeep Puri verbally abused him in the Upper House of Parliament and was on the verge of physically assaulting him before he was rescued by his colleagues. Puri has so far not commented on the issue.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has described the opposition conduct as a “new low” in Parliament.