New Delhi: Amid Opposition leaders’ allegation that female and other MPs were manhandled by marshals in Rajya Sabha, CCTV footage of the ruckus emerged on Thursday showing Opposition MPs jostling with marshals in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, government denied Opposition charge of MPs being assaulted in Rajya Sabha, and said no 'outsiders' and only staff of Parliament security were present in the Upper House.
Opposition parties alleged there were around 40 marshals, and 'outsiders' were called in the House on Thursday.
"There were 30 marshals - 18 males and 12 females, there were no outsiders, all were Parliament security staff," Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said at a press conference called by government and addressed by eight senior ministers.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Mr Goyal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, along with union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Bhupender Yadav, V Muraleedharan, and Arjun Ram Meghwal were present at the press conference which came after a march by Opposition leaders from Parliament to Vijay Chowk, where they slammed government for silencing their voice.
"Yesterday, the Monsoon Session was concluded. It was the most unfortunate day... Instead of shedding crocodile tears, the Opposition should apologise to the nation for their behaviour," Mr Joshi said.
The Minister alleged that Congress and other Opposition parties had pre-decided that the session would be a washout.
The ministers accused the Opposition of assaulting Parliament security staff, and said they were making allegations to hide their own misconduct.
Asked why no action was taken against the MPs, Mr Goyal said a 'high level committee' will look into the matter, adding that there was not enough time to move a motion against the members who broke the rules.
"We met the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman and made an earnest appeal that the strongest action should be taken on this deplorable misconduct and the assault of Parliament," he said.
Mr Goyal also denied charges made by women MPs that they were assaulted by male marshals.
"This is a baseless allegation," he said.
Congress MPs from Chhattisgarh Chhaya Verma and Phulo Devi have alleged they were pushed by male marshals. Devi came to the Opposition march with a bandage on her hand.
Asked about veteran politician and NCP leader Sharad Pawar's comment that he has not witnessed anything similar in 55 years of his career, Mr Goyal said, "Mr Pawar needs to introspect what his colleagues in the Opposition are doing. NCP takes pride in the fact that its MPs never disrupt the House, did Mr Pawar not see how women marshals were treated".
The Monsoon Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die ahead of its schedule on Wednesday, and the Rajya Sabha witnessed protests by Opposition parties after the OBC Bill was passed and the Insurance Bill was taken up.
Government and Opposition have been blaming each other for the washout of the session. (UNI)
