A suspension motion was moved against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar named him but later said the motion to suspend him was not put to vote and hence he could continue to attend the proceedings.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had earlier announced the suspension of the TMC leader for his “unruly behaviour” in the House.

Several members, including Pramod Tiwari (Congress), urged the Chair to take a lenient view on O’Brien, but the Chairman asked why he should show leniency, PTI reported.

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“If O’Brien would have been suspended from the House for this session, do you think he would have been allowed to enter the House again? Can he come back again?” the chairman said, adding that for him action against any member is a matter of pain.

“I have ended my own pain, no one has done that. If the motion was passed fully, O’Brien could not have entered the House again,” Dhankhar added.

“He was allowed to enter the House as the motion against O’Brien could not fructify. I did not take that sense of the House deliberately. It is my obligation to ensure to an extreme degree that the House runs. I have been extremely accommodating whenever the TMC MP has come to my chamber,” Dhankhar said.

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At this, O’Brien objected, saying he never went to Dhankhar’s chamber between 11 am and 12 noon on Tuesday, following which the Chairman asked members of the House if such a behaviour should be allowed.

Earlier in the day, the Chairman named him and the Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal, moved a suspension motion against the TMC MP.

Goyal said he wished to move a motion for the suspension of O’Brien for the remainder of the session for “continuously disrupting the proceedings of the House and disobeying the Chair”.

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“Derek O’Brien is suspended for the remaining part of the current session for his unruly behaviour unbecoming of a Rajya Sabha member, shouting slogans from the well of the House, thereby disregarding instructions of the Chair and for bringing disrepute to the House,” the motion read by Goyal said.

The Chairman then announced, “Derek O’Brien is directed to leave the House. He is suspended for the rest of the session”, as he announced adjournment of the House till 12 noon.

(With PTI inputs)