In a surprise move, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday resigned as a Rajya Sabha member, hours after the Chair of the Upper House asked her to restrict her impromptu speech on anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Mayawati met Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari and handed over her resignation letter. “I met the Chairman to hand over my resignation letter. It is not good that I cannot speak in the House on issues close to me... When I got up to speak, the Government did not allow me to complete. Their members stood up and interfered. It is not good,” she said after resigning.
Earlier in the day, Parliament witnessed vociferous protest by the Opposition members and Mayawati threatened to resign when she was asked to finish her speech. “I will resign from the Rajya Sabha today,” a visibly anguished Mayawati shot back when Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien asked her to wrap up her speech as she had exceeded the three minutes given to her to make her submission.
Mayawati argued with Kurien saying how she can be prevented from raising the issue about her samaj (community) and the Dalits.
“I have not finished my speech. You cannot do this. I have no moral right to be in the House if I am not allowed to put across my views on atrocities being committed against Dalits,” she said.
The Treasury Benches demanded an apology from her for challenging the authority of the Chair leading to sharp exchanges between the Opposition and the ruling Benches.
In her three-page resignation letter written in Hindi, Mayawati detailed the incident in the Rajya Sabha as the reason for her decision. “If people in power, the BJP or the NDA, do not allow me to speak in the interest of marginalised communities, then I can no longer continue in this Parliament,” she said.
Mayawati’s term in the Upper House is till April 2018. Now the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha will take a decision on Mayawati ‘s resignation. The rulebook says the resignation letter should be ‘brief’ and should not mention the reasons for resignation. However, Mayawati’s letter contradicts both these provisions.
The Opposition made its intentions clear to corner the Government on these issues as soon as the Rajya Sabha met to the day. Mayawati said since the NDA Government came to power three years back incidents of caste related violence and atrocities against the minorities had increased especially in the BJP ruled State.
After she walked out of the House, along with her party colleagues, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded an apology from Mayawati for allegedly challenging the authority of the Chair.
Associating himself with Mayawati, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the BJP did not get the mandate for massacre of minorities and walked out with the Congress MPs. Before doing so, he also charged the Government with not allowing the Opposition to speak as was the case with Mayawati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Ministers had assured the Opposition during the all party meeting a few days back that the Government was ready to discuss any issue in the Monsoon Session. The Opposition also reaffirmed that it was not interested in disrupting the proceedings provided it was allowed to raise issues of public importance, Azad said. Naqvi shot back and said the Government was ready for discussion provided a proper notice was given for it.
The Opposition also raised a ruckus in the lok Sabha too forcing adjournment for the day shortly after 12.00 pm. Din started as soon as the proceedings for the day commenced and members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD and the left rushed into the Well raising slogans and holding placards.
While one of the placards read, “Gau mata toh bahana hai, karz maafi se dhyan hatana hai (Cow protection is a tool to divert attention from farm loan waiver)”, another read, “who allowed Vijay Mallya to leave the country.”