Nirendra Dev
The Rajya Sabha episode was condemned strongly by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who also broke down in the House on Wednesday while reading out a prepared statement.
New Delhi: There is a new twist to the tale of ‘manhandling’ of a female marshal in Rajya Sabha as video footage has gone viral, showing most opposition Members of Parliament watching silently as a few women MPs allegedly tried to drag the security personnel.
The video footage showed that the ‘woman marshal’ was virtually gheraoed by a group of women MPs, holding her by hand and almost pushing her down.
As reported by TimesNow, the footage came to light on Thursday (August 12) afternoon close on the heels of the opposition members, including Rahul Gandhi, alleging that ‘outsiders’ were put into service to humiliate heckle, and manhandle opposition members.
The gory episode of an unruly scene in Rajya Sabha that first came to light on August 10 after Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa jumped onto the Reporters’ table and hurled papers towards the chair had forced adjournment of both Houses of Parliament sine die.
The Monsoon Session was to continue till August 13 but was cut short and adjourned on Wednesday, August 11.
The Rajya Sabha episode was condemned strongly by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who also broke down in the House on Wednesday while reading out a prepared statement. He also said he “could not sleep” on August 10 night and said in a choked voice: “I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night….. last night.”
Chhaya Verma, Congress MP from Chhattisgarh, was allegedly in the group of MPs on the fresh video.
When contacted by the television channel, Ms Verma said: "the male Marshals were pushing the ‘woman Marshal’ to attack us."
Trinamool MP Dola Sena, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, told the channel that new video footage is "fake".
Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday, "We demand that a special committee be set up to look into the incidents of gross indiscipline by Opposition members and strict action be taken. Opposition's intentions were on full display."
The government sources have said that the disruption of the House was pre-planned, and "washing out" the session was their ultimate goal right from day one.
Goyal also said, "Opposition members even tried to stop me and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister from coming out of our chambers. This is unfortunate."
The opposition MPs took out a march on Thursday to protest the curtailment of the Monsoon Session.
