Rajya Sabha adjourned till 4 pm, opposition refuses discussion on inflation until suspension of 12 MPs revoked

The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed the fourth adjournment till 4 pm as opposition parties continued to create ruckus seeking revocation of suspension of 12 MPs from the House and refused to participate in the short discussion on inflation. Joint Opposition, including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, TRS, AAP and the Left, continued their protest soon after the House reassembled at 3 pm after its third adjournment.

Presiding the Chair, Biju Janata Dal leader Sasmit Patra, asked the MPs to begin the short discussion on the price rise of petroleum and other products soon after the House met following the third adjournment. However, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We will not participate in the discussion until the suspension of 12 MPs is revoked."

"You demanded a short discussion and now you are not ready to discuss it," Patra said. Meanwhile, almost all the Opposition party members trooped in the Well of the House sloganeering "Revoke the suspension of 12 MPs".

Nationalist Congress Party leader Fouzia Khan asked to suspend other Opposition MPs if the suspension of 12 MPs is not revoked. As the ruckus continued, Patra adjourned the House till 4 pm.

Earlier, the House faced three back to back adjournments-- first till noon, the second till 2 pm and the third till 3 pm. The opposition raised the issue to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs a few minutes after the House assembled for the day at 11 am.

In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on Monday following a motion brought in by the government. The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.

The suspended members comprise of six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI. Since after their suspension, all the 12 MPs regularly visit the Parliament and keep sitting outside Mahatma Gandhi Statue.