Trinamool MP Dr Santanu Sen, who snatched papers from IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Friday. This was after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan, moved a motion seeking the Trinamool MP’s suspension.
While moving the motion amidst loud noise, Muraleedharan said, ‘I move that Dr Santanu Sen, AITC, be suspended from the services of the House…for his unruly bhaviour, unbecoming of a member of Rajya Sabha.”
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu wasted no time in asking the Trinamool MP to leave the House, triggering protests from opposition parliamentarians.
IT Minister Vaishnaw on Thursday had to face considerable protests from opposition parties when he attempted to speak on the raging snooping row. Dr. Sen from the Trinamool Congress had snatched the minister’s papers before he tore them into pieces and flung them into the air.
The Pegasus snooping scandal has left the Centre’s Narendra Modi government red-faced after it emerged that phones of several journalists, activists and opposition leaders may have been compromised using the spyware from the Israeli company, NSO.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has called the scandal ‘an issue of sedition.’ He wrote on Twitter, “#PegasusSnoopgate is an issue of sedition. Our demand is simple- This should be investigated under the supervision of the Supreme Court so that the country knows this seditious act was committed at whose behest. PM or the HM.”
#PegasusSnoopgate देशद्रोह का मामला है।
हमारी सीधी सी माँग है- सुप्रीम कोर्ट की निगरानी में इसकी न्यायिक जाँच हो ताकि देश को पता चले कि ये देशद्रोह किसके कहने पर किया गया- PM या HM? pic.twitter.com/65A3aIb4XQ
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2021
Given the track record of this government, it’s highly unlikely that the Modi government would accept the opposition parties’ demand for a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry.