Rajya Sabha
Parliament: TMC MP Santanu Sen suspended for snatching Pegasus statement from IT Minister
New Delhi/IBNS: Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Santanu Sen has been suspended for the rest of the monsoon session of Parliament for snatching papers containing a written statement on Pegasus spyware issue from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's hands, tearing it and throwing it to the Chair.
Sen was Friday suspended by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu immediately after the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs moved a motion against the TMC MP.
The house was adjourned till 12:30 pm after the TMC MPs protested against Sen's suspension.
Later, several opposition MPs met Naidu questioning why the minister was allowed to speak and move the motion when it was not listed for the day's business.
Sen Thursday threw the torn pieces of the statement on Pegasus at Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was at the Chair then, forcing the minister to lay the paper on the table.
Following this, a heated conversation took place between another union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Sen.
Marshalls were brought in to bring the situation under control.
Condemning the incident, Union Minister and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi Thursday said, "The TMC member's action in Parliament was shameful. The Congress and TMC are constantly building a wrong narrative. Some journalists who do yellow journalism are helping them. Amnesty has itself rejected the list and stated it has no business with it."
She also said, "The published story is based on a list of numbers available in any directory. Second, Amnesty International has denied this. The company whose product is Pegasus, has claimed that these claims are uncorroborated and do not tally with their customer base."
Defending his action, Sen had later in a press conference said, "I was about to be attacked physically. Then my other colleagues came to my rescue."
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
