Continuing with their protest in and out of Parliament, top Opposition leaders on Wednesday sat on a dharna in Parliament complex and extended their support to the 12 suspended MPs of the Rajya Sabha. While the entire Opposition benches boycotted the proceedings of the House, the Trinamool Congress which has expressed a strained relationship with the Congress in recent days, some of its MPs made it to the upper house post lunch session when a Bill was also passed.
Among the leaders who participated in the protest along with the 12 suspended members were Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal besides SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and AAP leader Sanjay Singh. The MPs have been sitting in protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue against their suspension, which they term as undemocratic and against the rules of procedure of the Upper House.
Twelve Rajya Sabha MPs, including six of Congress, were suspended on the first day of the Winter Session on November 29 for the remainder of the session for their unruly behaviour during the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament in August. The other members suspended are from the TMC, Left parties and Shiv Sena.
The proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon as Opposition members kept protesting for the revocation of suspension of 12 MPs, even as Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge offered to cooperate. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected a notice submitted by two members, including Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda, for suspension of business so that a discussion on farmers' issue can take place in the House.
Naidu said the leader of the opposition and the leader of the House have been suggested to sit together and resolve the matter so that the House is allowed to function smoothly.
When Congress Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma objected to the suspension of MPs in the current (255th) session for their conduct in the previous session that concluded on August 11, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh said due procedure was followed in obtaining the prorogation order of the President of India for the last session of the House.
Harivansh noted that under Article 83 of the Constitution, Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution, unlike the Lok Sabha which may be dissolved or which may continue for five years from the date appointed, whichever is earlier. The last monsoon session was adjourned sine die on August 11 and prorogued on August 31.
Post lunch when there was no Opposition except the presence of TMC, the House passed The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021, which was passed by Lok Sabha on December 1. The Upper House also passed The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 with amendments. The proposed bill was earlier passed by Lok Sabha, but Rajya Sabha had referred it to a Select Committee. It will now go back to Lok Sabha for approval.
Replying to a discussion on both the bills taken up together, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that most of the recommendations of the Select Committee have been incorporated in the surrogacy bill. Both the bills seek to curb unethical practices related to issues like sex selection and exploitation of surrogate mothers. The provisions include both monetary penalty as well as jail terms for violations.