Team News Riveting
New Delhi, February 10
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday suspended Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rajani Ashokrao Patil for the remaining period of the Budget Session over videography of House proceedings during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the President’s Address yesterday.
Dhankhar referred the matter to the privileges committee and said a strong prima facie case had emerged to suspend Patil till the panel’s final advice came.
The action followed a 2016 precedent involving then Sangrur MP and incumbent Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He was suspended from the tenth session of 16th Lok Sabha on December 9, 2016, for live-streaming Parliament security procedures on his Facebook.
The clip Rajani Patil recorded was loaded on Twitter.
Leader of the House Piyush Goyal mentioned the July 2022 ruling by then-House Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu warning members against filming of House proceedings in an act that lowered the dignity of the Rajya Sabha. He sought appropriate action for unauthorised publication of House proceedings which, he said, “mainly showed principal Opposition’s MPs in poor light”.
BJP’s GVL Narsimha Rao moved a motion on suspension of the Congress MP from the remaining period of the Session. Chairman later, citing the 2016 precedent of Mann, suspended Patil, who is Congress in-charge of J&K.
Opposition leaders across parties Congress, Left, RJD, SP and TMC opposed the instant suspension and called for a committee to probe before taking any action.
