Shantanu Sen suspended for the remaining part of the monsoon session of Parliament

Trinamool Congress MP Shantanu Sen was on Friday suspended for the remaining part of the monsoon session of Parliament, even as the Rajya Sabha failed to function for the fourth day in a row.

Mr. Sen’s suspension comes a day after he snatched and tore the statement on Pegasus which the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw was reading.

The motion seeking his suspension was moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V. Muralidharan and passed by voice vote.

The Opposition parties protested against the move, saying they were not given an opportunity to respond.

TMC members Derek O’Brien and Sukendu Sekhar Roy wanted the member concerned given an opportunity to speak. Mr. O’Brien said that after the House was adjourned on Thursday, Mr. Sen was roughed up. “We saw boorish behaviour and hooliganism in this House,” he added.

In response, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said this issue was not brought to his notice.

Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh asked Mr. Naidu to allow for a clarification on the statement made by Mr. Vaishnaw.