Congress leader Venugopal urges LS Speaker Birla to revoke suspension of 8 opposition MPs
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader K C Venugopal urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday to revoke the suspension of eight opposition members, saying they were suspended "unfairly".
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Venugopal said Parliament has seen countless protests but suspending MPs is a "disturbing new trend" that cannot be allowed to continue.
Birla said a decision of the Lok Sabha cannot be discussed on the floor of the House and disallowed Venugopal to speak further.
Later, in a post on X, the Congress leader said he had raised concern over the "unfair suspension of 8 Opposition MPs for this Session".
"Rose in the Lok Sabha to raise concern over the unfair suspension of 8 Opposition MPs for this Session. Parliament has seen countless protests but the suspension of MPs is a disturbing new trend, which cannot be allowed to continue. This suspension should be revoked immediately," he said.
The eight opposition members were suspended during the first part of the Budget Session for "unruly" behaviour. They were suspended for the entire session.
The suspended members are Gurjeet Singh Auja, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole, Dean Kuriakose (all from the Congress) and S Ventakesan (CPI-M).
The suspended MPs have been protesting against the government on various issues while sitting on the steps of Parliament's Makar Dwar. Several opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have joined them from time to time.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
17,969 acres Wakf property encroached in Karnataka, mostly by Muslims: Minister Khan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Wakf & Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 17,969 acres of Wakf property have been encroached upon in the state, mostly by Muslims themselves.
The minister was responding to a question by Afzalpur Congress MLA M Y Patil during the Question Hour.
"Total Wakf property across the state is 1,12,860 acres, out of which only 20,054 acres is in our hands. As many as 17,969 acres have been encroached, 47,263 acres have gone under the Inam Abolition Act and 23,627 acres have gone under the Land Reforms Act," Khan said.
He said that after the Congress government came to power and he became the department's minister, Wakf Adalats were held across the state aimed at removing encroachments.
Noting that 1,12,860 acres of Wakf land were given not by the government, but by private individuals and organisations for the welfare of the community, the minister said encroachments on Wakf property are mostly by the Muslim community itself, not by temples or other communities.
"Encroachments on Wakf land are not by others, they are done by Muslims themselves. Wakf Adalats were held to remove those encroachments, but the BJP made it an issue," he said, adding that encroachment issues are being resolved.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka intervened and said the BJP's objections were not about removing encroachments by Muslims on Wakf land, but about farmers' land, land belonging to schools such as the one studied by Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, and in some cases land belonging to temples, among others, being claimed as Wakf land.
The BJP is in fact in favour of an investigation into the encroachment of Wakf properties, he said.
Responding to this, the minister clarified that the government is not laying hands on any temples or educational institutions by claiming them as Wakf property.
"To identify encroachments by private people, mostly Muslims, Wakf Adalats were held," he added.
