Will continue agitation, raise issues of common people: Venugopal on Parliament deadlock

Amid the deadlock between the Government and Opposition over the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs in the Parliament's winter session, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal on Thursday said the agitation will continue.

"We will continue with our agitation, but we will also raise the issues concerning the common people in the House," Venugopal told ANI.

The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned twice following the Opposition leaders' protest and walkout over several issues including suspension of 12 MPs, inflation, and compensation for the families of farmers who died during protests. The Lok Sabha was also adjourned on Thursday.

Since the commencement of the winter session of the Parliament on Monday, there have been continuous disruptions in the functioning of both Houses.

In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on Monday following a motion brought in by the government.

The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.

The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.

The winter session is likely to conclude on December 23.

(ANI)