The Chair of the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday, December 21, suspended TMC MP Derek O’Brien for the remaining duration of the ongoing winter session of the Parliament for “unruly behaviour” in the House. The decision came after the Trinamool Congress MP reportedly threw the Rajya Sabha Rule Book towards the Chair when the Upper House was discussing the Election Laws (Amendment Bill) 2021 on Tuesday.
Showing no remorse for his despicable conduct, the TMC MP took to Twitter to inform about his suspension. “The last time I got suspended from RS was when govt. was BULLDOZING #FarmLaws. We all know what happened after that. Today, suspended while protesting against BJP making a mockery of #Parliament and BULLDOZING #ElectionLawsBill2021. Hope this Bill too will be repealed soon, the Trinamool leader said in a tweet.”
It may be recalled that Derek O’Brien was amongst the eight RS MPs whom Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of Rajya Sabha, suspended in September last year, for unruly behaviour with the chair. Then these suspended Rajya Sabha members had gone to the well of the House and physically threatened the Deputy Chairman. Video clips of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh assaulting a Marshal on duty had gone viral yesterday. VP Naidu had called the incident unfortunate and condemnable. He had urged the MPs to do some introspection.
However, the TMC MP has not learnt anything from the past incident it seems. O’Brien threw the Rule Book at the reporters’ desk after the Chair did not allow voting for passage of a bill to change election laws, citing disorder in the House. The Opposition walked out of the House while the govt condemned the behaviour of the TMC MP.