Tempers both outside and inside the Parliament were high on Tuesday morning. Inside the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, sparred with each other, with Mr. Kharge demanding a debate on violence in Manipur and Mr. Goyal batting for a debate on atrocities against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In the Lok Sabha, meanwhile, a meeting with floor leaders was convened by Speaker Om Birla, but it failed break the logjam. Outside, suspended AAP MP Sanjay Singh, sat in protest along with other colleagues from the INDIA parties.
Opposition parties moved 51 notices under Rule 267 on the Manipur situation. The rule requires suspension of business to debate the subject on hand. From the Treasury Benches, three notices were moved on a lesser Rule 176 to discuss atrocities against women in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha questioned the way his colleague Mr. Singh had been suspended, and demanded a division on his suspension, which was declined by the Chair.
The opposition voiceferouosly protested, drowning the voices from the Treasury Benches with loud chants of “Manipur, Manipur”. The House was adjourned till 12 noon.
The Rajya Sabha reconvened at 12 p.m. with the opposition chanting “Manipur, Manipur” again, but ignoring the sloganeering, Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar carried on with the Question Hour. The questions were answered in the din.
Mr. Kharge flagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued absence in the House and, referring to his comment made at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, said, “When so many people want to talk about this [referring to the 51 notices under Rule 267], why are they not ready to talk? Why Modi sahab does not come here and explain the situation? Outside, he talks about East India Company, but he is not ready to talk about Manipur in the House.”
At this, the Leader of the House, Mr. Goyal, countered him by saying Union Home Minister Amit Shah was ready to have a discussion on the issues related to atrocities on women in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and West Bengal. He said that the Home Minister was ready give a statement on the issue. Mr. Goyal accused the opposition of being insensitive in not allowing for a debate on atrocities against women in other State. “This is a sensitive issue and show some sincerity on this. Be sensitive towards women. You are not sensitive towards women,” Mr. Goyal alleged.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj K. Jha raised a point of order against Mr. Goyal’s comments. “Leader of the House is equating Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with Manipur, where there is a genocidal intent,” Mr. Jha said. His point of order was not accepted and pandemonium broke in the House, following which it was adjourned till 2 p.m.
In an effort to end the logjam in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla convened an all party meeting of floor leaders but it failed to achieve a breakthrough. The opposition maintained its stand of an opening statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the government said Home Minister Amit Shah would reply to the debate on the violence in Manipur, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal told reporters after the meeting.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government had conveyed to the opposition that it is ready for discussion on Manipur on any day the Speaker decided.
“There are several important Bills and we do not want them to be passed without discussion. We want constructive discussion. We urged them with folded hands to participate in the discussion,” Mr Joshi told reporters.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha witnessed disruption shortly after proceedings commenced at 11 a.m. as opposition members raised the Manipur issue immediately.
Mr. Birla urged them to not indulge in sloganeering as it would not help resolve the issues, and requested them to go back to their seats. He said the Question Hour should continue, assured time to the Opposition to raise their issues, and urged them to uphold the decorum of the House. Though the Question Hour was taken up, the Speaker adjourned the House until 2 p.m., barely three minutes after the proceedings started.
Opposition MPs also protested over very few BJP members being present when the House started. Ruling party members were on their way after attending the BJP’s weekly parliamentary party meeting in the morning.
