Nirendra Dev
The suspended lawmakers are Dola Sen (a very close aide of Mamata), Md Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor.
New Delhi: Anarchism and stance politics have been in the DNA of Trinamool Congress, and hence quite often, Mamata Banerjee herself and her colleagues indulge in negative politics by playing up their favourite 'more Left than the Left' card.
Hence, unruly behaviour in Parliament is not unexpected, and the suspension of half a dozen MPs after they displayed placards and created ruckus is not unprecedented.
Six Trinamool members were suspended in Rajya Sabha on Thursday (August 5).
The suspended lawmakers are Dola Sen (a very close aide of Mamata), Md Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor.
For the opposition, the big claim of 'opposition unity' is also on weak grounding as Biju Janata Dal of Odisha Chief Minister and YSR Congress of Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy are not participating in the opposition protest.
The notice from the Rajya Sabha secretariat mentions that the Trinamool members had entered the well of the House, displayed placards and disobeyed the chair. It says they created 'grossly disorderly' in the House and hence were directed to "withdraw immediately from the council (House) under Rule 255 by the Honourable Chairman."
Of course, the genesis of the trouble is the opposition parties' consistent stance to disturb the House proceedings over the Pegasus row.
During the ongoing session last month, another Trinamool MP, Shantanu Sen, was suspended for the remaining period of the monsoon session for tearing the government paper in the House. He disallowed IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to make the government statement on Pegasus row.
Earlier, the chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the opposition members' notice for a debate on the Pegasus issue and maintained, "now, there is an agreement about farmers' agitation."
Naidu also said the government had expressed a willingness to discuss the issue.
“The chairperson had accepted the notices from Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi) and two others to discuss the farmers' issue. But the Trinamool members trooped into the well, precipitating the fray and ultimately the action from the Chair. Later, the opposition parties issued a joint statement and said they stood "firm and united" on their demand for a discussion on Pegasus in both the Houses. The government's reply should be from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and not the IT Minister.”
In all these, one point that should not be missed is an intra-opposition rivalry.
Till now, the stance of the 1970s politics – the tractor ride and the bicycle ride by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi stole the media limelight but did not yield any major mileage to the opposition camp.
Instead, Shantanu Sen's suspension came as a big embarrassment for Trinamool Congress.
Not to forget, in between, Mamata Banerjee visited Delhi, and her attempts to emerge as a great unifying force for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls also did not yield expected results.
So the frustration has been playing out for the last fortnight or so.
Aggrieved Trinamool leaders had rushed to BJP-ruled Tripura to cause a split in the saffron camp and instead were snubbed and had to draw consolation by taking in some disgruntled Congressmen only.
Trinamool Congress is also worried as the Calcutta High Court has concluded the hearing on post-poll violence, and a verdict may come any day now. Mamata Banerjee is still a non-MLA Chief Minister, and if the Covid situation worsens, no one is sure whether by-elections would occur. Trinamool Congress has already worked out a plan and made Mamata the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party chairperson.
Days after Mamata's Delhi visit, Rahul Gandhi has held more than one meeting of opposition floor leaders, trying to give a certain message.
While fighting against BJP is a harsh reality for other parties, no one is showing enough verbs in their actions.
The principal opposition Congress is still under the caretaker leadership of an 'interim' president, and no plans are afoot for the election of a full-fledged Congress chief.
It is also a fact that opposition parties such as Biju Janata Dal of Odisha Chief Minister and YSR Congress of Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy are not participating in the opposition protest.
