NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI): The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday as the opposition kept insisting on a discussion on the Manipur issue under Rule 267 of the House.
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As the House reassembled at 3.30 pm after witnessing four adjournments earlier in the day, chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the government is ready for a discussion on the situation in strife-torn Manipur right now.
He asked the opposition members who were protesting in the House to return to their seats so that the discussion could be initiated.
However, the opposition members kept shouting over their demand for a discussion on the Manipur issue under Rule 267.
Dhankhar said, “We are not setting a good example for the nation. The entire nation is watching us. The government is ready for a discussion on Manipur.”
Terming it as “most unfortunate”, the chairman said from July 20 (when the Monsoon session of Parliament started), the time of the House has not been utilised.
“People have to pay for this…. We are ridiculing ourselves, sending a very dangerous signal to the world outside,” he said, adding that as the Upper House, the Rajya Sabha has to set an example for serving public interest.
Appealing to the agitating members to take their seats, Dhankhar said, “We are far from this at the moment.”
However, the uproar continued and parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said if the opposition is serious about the issues related to Manipur and does not want to do politics, then they should allow the discussion to start.
“We are ready for discussions right now. Our home minister was here for three days and our minister of state for home was there (in Manipur) for 23 days. It never happened during their (Congress-led UPA government’s) tenure,” he said.
However, the opposition members continued shouting, following which the chairman adjourned the House till Tuesday.
Earlier, when the House reassembled at 2 pm, Dhankhar said the government had agreed to a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue under Rule 176 and called for it to be initiated.
When members from the opposition parties insisted on a discussion under Rule 267, he said, “Notices under Rule 267 have not been admitted by me. They have been declined by me.”
As the uproar continued, the chairman first adjourned the House till 2.30 pm and then till 3.30 pm.
