Relay protest as RS suspends AAP member

Harsh action against Sanjay Singh, says Oppn; Amit Shah says ready for debate on Manipur

- PREETHA NAIR AND PRASANTA MAZUMDAR

THE ongoing faceoff in Parliament on the Manipur situation took a turn on Monday after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the session for repeatedly violating the directive of the Chair.

Demanding the revocation of his selective suspension, the Opposition began a day-and-night sit-in protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar ordered the suspension after Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved a motion. It was adopted by the House by voice vote.

Speaking to this newspaper, Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev said the allies of INDIA will hold the sit-in protest until the suspension is revoked. “We will sit on a rotational basis. On Monday, I sat from 4-6 pm along with Jairam Ramesh, Derek O’Brien, Sanjay Singh and Manoj Jha among others. At any given point of time, there will be more than 10 MPs,” said Dev, adding his suspension was unwarranted.