Has Derek O’Brien been suspended from Parliament's Monsoon Session?

Has Derek O’Brien been suspended from Parliament or not? That’s the question many are now asking. Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Trinamool Congress MP O’Brien was suspended for ‘unruly behaviour for the rest of the Monsoon Session after a motion from Leader of the House Piyush Goyal. So, what happened? And what is O’Brien’s status? Let’s take a closer look: What happened? According to Scroll, Opposition MPs submitted multiple motions to suspend business on Tuesday. However, Rajya Sabha chair Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all such notices. O’Brien then stood, and raising a point of order, claimed that the Opposition was willing to participate in the ethnic violence in Manipur – just not the way the Centre asked for it. Dhankhar then chided O’Brien. Dhankhar said the leader ought to specify the rule under which he was making the point of order, rather than just make a speech. O’Brien and Dhankhar then got into a verbal spat during which he told O’Brien to sit down.

Now, the vice-president and chair said he was ‘naming’ O’Brien.

Under the rules of parliamentary procedure, a member thus named is to leave the Lok Sabha proceedings for the entire day, as per Scroll. As per Hindustan Times, Goyal, the Leader of the House, then sought to move a motion to suspend O’Brien from the rest of the Monsoon Session. He further accused O’Brien of violating the Chair’s orders and raising slogans near the podium. Goyal said this is not the first instance of “such behaviour” by O’Brien and said he resorts to “thumping of desks and speaking loudly to the chair”. Goyal added the Chairman had shown magnanimity. “Let us agree to maintain decorum. I think the least that can be expected of Derek O’Brien is that he expresses regret to the chair,” the ANI report quoted the minister as saying. Hindustan Times Goyal said he was moving a motion for O’Brien’s suspension “for continuously disturbing the proceedings of the House, disobeying the Chair and continuously creating disturbance in the House.” Meanwhile, the TMC MPs protested by rushing to the well of the House. Dhankhar, meanwhile, said the repeated disturbances in the House does not induce the respect of the public. [caption id=“attachment_12954862” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar. PTI[/caption] He added that he was receiving inputs regarding ‘alarming concern’ over the state in the House from all over. What happened next? According to Scroll, the House did not take up the vote after the Rajya Sabha resumed. Meanwhile, O’Brien had returned and taken his place. “This is too serious a matter for me to be overruled. After deep, immediate deliberation, I did not take the sense of the House earlier. If I had really fructified the process, Derek O’Brien would have been out of the House. In my wisdom, I thought I must not take it to that conclusion at that point of time,” Dhankhar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“I am yet to conclude on Derek O’Brien,” Dhankhar added.

In the end, O’Brien was not suspended from the House. O’Brien on Tuesday claimed it has taken the rules of a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition to “drag” Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Lok Sabha. The TMC’s Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha also urged the prime minister to come to the Upper House. “It’s taken the rules of a no-confidence motion to finally drag the PM to the Lok Sabha,” O’Brien posted on social media platform X. O’Brien posted:

19 days PM @narendramodi has been MISSING IN #Parliament

It’s taken the rules of a No Confidence Motion to FINALLY DRAG PM to Lok Sabha.

And in #RajyaSabha what’s stopping this heartless government from starting the discussion on #Manipur TODAY AUG 8 at 11 am. Let’s begin

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) August 8, 2023

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Modi is slated to reply to the debate on Thursday. Opposition moves privilege notice against Goyal Meanwhile, several leaders of the Opposition alliance INDIA have given a privilege notice Goyal over his remarks in the House. Among the parties whose leaders gave the notice are the Congress, TMC, AAP, RJD, DMK, RJD, JDU, NCP and the Left parties. [caption id=“attachment_12923162” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Opposition submitted a privilege notice against Rajya Sabha MP Piyush Goyal. ANI[/caption] “Congress and its arrogant coalition parties are supporting Chinese media and hatching conspiracy. This is a serious issue. This issue needs be discussed in the House,” Goyal was quoted as saying by NDTV. He added, “Arrogant coalition parties are helping each other. They are funding the propaganda against the country. What relation Rahul Gandhi has with Communist party and China. The country should know whether they are with India or China…” Goyal made the remark after BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi brought up The New York Times piece on Newsclick. Dhankhar told the House Jairam Ramesh, during a mee in his private chamber, accused Goyal of uttering an “inappropriate word”.

“Let me examine. It will not be in the record of the House,” Dhankhar added.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, “Please examine his (Goyal’s) statement. Charges which he levelled against us calling traitor and charge of money….Sir, what is all that?” Goyal, meanwhile, called on Dhankhar to remove any unparliamentary remarks, if any, made in the House by him, as per NDTV. Sources said leaders of INDIA parties gave the notice to the Rajya Sabha chairman complaining against Goyal’s certain remarks made while he was speaking on the issue of media portal ‘NewsClick’ receiving funding from China-linked firms allegedly to spread Chinese propaganda. ‘Engage in theatrics’ This isn’t the first time Dhankhar and O’Brien have clashed. On Monday, Dhankhar accused O’Brien of indulging in “theatrics” in the House in an attempt to gain publicity during a heated debate on the Delhi services bill. Dhankhar’s outburst came after the TMC member refused to confine his speech to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and unleashed a litany of allegations against the central government. “I stand here to strongly oppose this bill. Narendra Modi is a child of federalism. He was a chief minister before coming to Delhi.” He asked why would a “child of democracy mutilate democracy,” O’Brien alleged. “Why would a child of federalism come to Parliament and ensure that about one-third of the bills passed here are anti-federal,” he asked. “Why would a child of federalism sanction Rs 40,000 crore as a special budget for higher education and give only Rs 700 crore to state universities,” he said. He claimed that the Centre was following “transactional federalism”. “We will oppose the bill whether you give us Rs 12,000 crore which you owe us. Transactional federalism will not work. We will hold a big rally on 12 October to press for our Rs 12,000 crore,” he said. He said, “You are sending 160 delegations in 30 months. What do you do in BJP states…how many delegations you have sent to Uttar Pradesh, having the highest number of murders in the country, to Assam with the highest crime against women and to Madhya Pradesh with the highest crime against children.” Dhankhar then asked the MP to stick to the bill in his speech but a combative O’Brien retorted, “This is a political house, we will make political points”. Pointing towards the treasury benches, he said that they cannot be allowed a free run. The Chair then asked him to sit down and said this kind of behaviour will not be good for anybody. When the MP refused to relent, the Chair said, “I will not allow this theatrics.” On the BJP’s charge of dynastic politics, O’Brien dared the government to bring a bill to ensure that only one member from a family can be a member of the House. After his remark, the treasury benches started protesting and the TMC MP could not speak further. “This has become your habit. You are doing this as part of a strategy. You think you will enjoy publicity outside. You ravaged this House. Sit down,” the chairman told O’Brien. “Are you here for dramatics, theatrics, is it your oath… such outsmarting never pays…Here is a member who is here for personal publicity. I take strong note of this,” a visibly upset Dhankhar said. The Chair also expunged certain remarks from the TMC member’s speech. With inputs from agencies