Rajya Sabha on Monday suspended eight Opposition members till the remaining Monsoon session, for their unparliamentary behaviour in the House the previous day.
The members include Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, AAP's Sanjay Singh, Congress MPs Rajeev Satav, Syed Naseer Hussain and Ripun Bora, and CPI(M) members K.K. Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem.
Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha Chairperson M. Venkaiah Naidu did not permit motion of no-confidence against Deputy Chairperson Harivansh, citing such a motion requires 14-days notice period.
"It was a bad day for the Rajya Sabha yesterday," the Vice President said adding that "he was pained" about what happened on Sunday. "It tarnished the image of Parliament," he added.
"If marshals were not called on time, I'm worried what would have happened to the Deputy Chairman," Mr. Naidu said.
Two of the three agriculture-related legislation piloted by the Narendra Modi government, aimed at liberalising the farm sector, were passed by the Rajya Sabha by voice vote on Sunday amid a din as the Opposition parties.
The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Samajwadi Party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party and the two Left parties vehemently opposed the Bills, asking the government to send them to a Parliament panel for further scrutiny.
The breaking point came when Mr. Harivansh called out for statutory resolution disapproving the legislation moved by CPI(M) MP K.K. Ragesh.
