Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha was suspended today from Rajya Sabha for gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct, pending a report by the privileges committee. His suspension followed a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal who sought action against the Aad Aadmi Party leader for including names of some members of the Upper House without their consent in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
     
The motion was passed by a voice vote in the House which also approved the continuation of suspension of senior Aad Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh from the House, pending the privileges committee report. Singh was suspended on 24th of July, four days after the Monsoon session of Parliament began.
     
Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said it is wrong to suspend members like this. Tiwari said the entire opposition will raise the issue and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will write to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar against Chadha's suspension. Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena said it is absolutely unfortunate the way the BJP-led government continues to suspend opposition members for raising questions.
     
Mahua Maji of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha also decried Chadha's suspension, saying it is unfortunate as he is a very active Member of the opposition. Rajeev Shukla of Congress said the manner in which opposition leaders are being suspended one after the other is not proper. The entire opposition is against the way opposition MPs are being suspended like this over small issues, he said. Sushil Kumar Rinku of Aam Aadmi Party was suspended from the Lok Sabha for unruly behaviour on 3rd of August.
     
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die today, bringing down the curtain on the Monsoon session which was marred by repeated disruptions by the opposition over the Manipur violence issue. On the last day of the session, the Upper House was adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session amid an uproar by opposition members who demanded a discussion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in the House on the situation in Manipur.
     
Several attempts by the chair and the government to break the logjam in the House failed as no discussion on Manipur could take place despite the listing of a short-duration discussion on the matter under rule 176. The opposition had been demanding a comprehensive discussion on the Manipur violence with a statement from the prime minister, under rule 267 that entails voting. Before being adjourned sine die, the House returned to Lok Sabha two proposed legislations on the Central and Integrated GST laws by a voice vote without any discussion. The proposed laws seek to levy a 28 percent tax on the full face value of bets in online gaming, casinos and horse race clubs.
     
A total of 44 hours and 58 minutes were lost during the 17 sittings of the House "due to avoidable disruptions adversely impinging on the overall productivity of this session, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar announced on the last day. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar regretted that despite his best efforts and the government's willingness, the Manipur violence issue could not be discussed in the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha chairman had accepted notices under rule 176, but the discussion could not start even after it was sought to be initiated last week. Later, a middle path was sought to be worked out for holding a discussion under rule 167, but nothing came out of the deliberations as both sides remained adamant on their respective stands.
     
Taking a dig at members of opposition parties who trooped into the well of the House during the session, he said, disorder cannot be allowed to be the order of the House. This has been weaponised as a political strategy and that is anti-democratic, anti-constitutional. Dhankhar asserted that he would not overlook such "transgressions".
     
On the other hand, he said, the Upper House also witnessed some positive developments in giving "fair representation to our dynamic women members" to be part of the panel of vice-chairpersons. He lauded former sprint queen P T Usha and S Phangnon Konyak, who created history by becoming the first woman from Nagaland to preside over the proceedings of Rajya Sabha. After his customary address, Dhankhar adjourned the House sine die. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has defended his party colleague Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was suspended from the Lok Sabha for using "Nirav Modi" for the prime minister. He said Chowdhury's suspension from Lok Sabha for using "Nirav Modi" for the prime minister was not right as "nirav" means "silent". Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, was suspended on Thursday for allegedly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and disturbing the ministers. The matter will be referred to the privileges committee. Kharge kept on speaking even as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said it happened in the other House.
     
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan said the convention of this House has been that the conduct of the Member of other House is not at all discussed in this House. The comments made by the Leader of Opposition have to be examined and expunged." Leader of House Piyush Goyal also demanded the same. The Rajya Sabha also bid farewell to five members, including BJP leader Jugalsinh Lokhandwala who will retire on August 18, and recalled their contribution to the House.
     
Out of the nine retiring members, four have been re-elected and the House will miss the other five members, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said. Four members — S Jaishankar of BJP and three Trinamool Congress members Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Derek O Brien and Dola Sen — have been re-elected to the Upper House. The five retiring members are Jugalsinh Lokhandwala and Dinesh Chandra Jemalbhai Anavadiya of the BJP, Sushmita Dev and Shanta Chhetri from the Trinamool Congress and Pradip Bhattacharya from Congress. The proceedings of Rajya Sabha were adjourned twice today as the opposition member continued their protest demanding a discussion on Manipur and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi give a statement on the issue in the House.
     
Earlier in the morning, Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon as opposition members protested over a BJP member raising the issue of law and order in Rajasthan. During the farewell of five members of the Rajya Sabha, Kirodi Lal Meena of BJP raised a point of order and said there was no law and order in Rajasthan. This led to an uproar by opposition parties even as Dhankhar declined the point of order.
       
Amid the ruckus, the House was adjourned till 12 noon. However, when the house assembled at 12, opposition members continued their protest. As soon as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar started conducting Question Hour, the opposition members started raising slogans, demanding a discussion on the situation in Manipur, which has been roiled by ethnic violence. Amid the continued sloganeering, some opposition members trooped into the well, prompting Dhankhar to stand up and ask them to return to their seats. With the opposition members not relenting, the Chair adjourned the House till 2 pm.