Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was on Monday suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the Monsoon session.
AAP termed Singh's suspension as a "black day" in Indian parliamentary history. The Opposition floor leaders also walked out of the chamber in protest.
A video of the moments right before Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar put up the motion to suspend Singh to vote shows him at the well of the house.
The PTI reported that Dhankhar named Singh for his "unruly behaviour" and cautioned him. Then, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved the motion to suspend him, which was adopted by the House by voice vote. Then, Dhankhar adjourned the house till 2 pm.
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The suspension of Singh came amid uproar by the Opposition over their demand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a statement in the Parliament on the situation in Manipur. The state has been in the grips of ethnic violence between the state's Meitei and tribal communities. Over 130 people have been killed and several thousands have been displaced as houses, public infrastructure, religious places, and political establishments have been attacked. Last week, a video surfaced showing an incident from May 4 in which two tribal women were paraded naked and groped. It led to nationwide outrage and Modi for the first time commented on the issue.
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So far, the Opposition has criticised Modi's silence on the situation in Manipur. The government has said that it's willing to have a discussion in the Parliament on Manipur but the Opposition continues to press their demand of Modi making a statement.
After Singh's suspension, a meeting was held between the Opposition floor leaders and Dhankhar but the leaders walked out of the meeting, reported NDTV.
"Floor leaders of opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha also walked out of a meeting called by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar at 1 pm to discuss Mr Singh's suspension. They walked out after the Chairman objected to Raghav Chadha of the AAP and Santanu Sen of the Trinamool Congress attending the meeting as they are not the floor leaders of their respective parties," reported NDTV.
The AAP called the suspension a "black day" of India's parliamentary history and slammed "silent Modi".
In Hindi, AAP tweeted, "Silent Modi is running from questions on Manipur. For demanding answers on Manipur violence, AAP MP Sanjay Singh has been suspended for the remainder of the monsoon session. How long is fugitive Modi going to run? He will have to give answers to the people of the country."
