‘…will not deter I.N.D.I.A.’: Derek O'Brien's repulse after Raghav Chadha's suspension

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ‘weaponising’ privilege motions in the Parliament to ‘throttle every voice of dissent’. His remark came after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha was suspended from the Upper House for allegedly adding names of members to a select committee, without their consent, to assess the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Also read: Raghav Chadha suspended from Rajya Sabha for ‘violation of rules’

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the TMC MP, who was also on the verge of being suspended from the House over ‘unruly behaviour’, referred to PM Modi and said ‘these assaults on democracy will not deter INDIA’ (bloc).

Moving the motion of suspension, Union minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal quoted one of the members who raised an issue where his name was ‘fraudulently’ added to the list despite not giving his consent. “The views expressed by the members on the floor of the House, left no doubt that there was an outrage of privilege of these members by hon'ble member Raghav Chadha by including their names in the motion without securing their willingness. This is contrary to the provision of Rule 72,” he said.

Five Rajya Sabha MPs — S Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin and Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP, M Thambidurai of AIADMK and Sasmit Patra of BJD — said that their name was included without their consent in a select committee moved by Raghav Chadha in the House.

The AAP MP has refuted the allegations claiming that an MP can propose names in a suggested committee and neither their written consent nor their signatures are required.