Winter Session: RS proceedings on track, House takes up 17 matters in Zero Hour, 5 Special Mentions

Facing pandemonium for the last four days, the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha on Friday returned on track as the Upper House took 17 matters in Zero Hour and five Special Mentions.

With a few incidents of a verbal spat between treasury benches and the Opposition members as well as initial attempts of TRS members to show protest seeking national policy on foodgrains procurement, legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP), and the functioning of the Upper House was smooth.

The first one hour, in which papers were laid on the table and the Zero Hour was completed, was mostly peaceful barring minor spat as compared to previous occasions since November 29 when the Winter Session started.

Even Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu mentioned it and lauded the supportive attitude of all the members of the House.

"A total of 17 matters were taken in Zero Hour and five Special Mentions were heard as a result of peaceful environment in the House," Naidu said.

The Chairman said all members got a chance to speak during the proceedings.

Thanking all members, Naidu also assured to give chance to everyone if they will continue maintaining the decorum of the House like this.

"Operation depends on cooperation...," Naidu said.

This was the first day since the Winter Session assembled when Rajya Sabha was adjourned for lunch otherwise the Upper House could not function properly for the last four days due to various adjournments followed by the ruckus created by the Opposition parties.

Congress, DMK, AAP, Left, and Trinamool Congress leaders were expressing protest for the last four days demanding revocation of suspension of 12 MPs. However, TRS was raising its demand on national policy on food procurement.

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 (Nationalization) 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.

( With inputs from ANI )