Parliament Winter Session: Amid standoff over PM Modi’s remarks on Manmohan, govt meets opposition

Senior Congress leaders said they are no more demanding an apology from the Prime Minister but he should come to the House and clarify. They claimed the ministers conveyed to them that the government was willing to clarify but the Congress insisted that the Prime Minister would have to come. After the meeting, Jaitley separately met Azad in the latter’s chamber, where a proposal is said to have been discussed, but neither side specified what it was. Sources said another meeting likely Wednesday morning would lead to the Opposition taking a “final call”.

In Rajya Sabha, Azad had said, “ Dr Manmohan Singhji’s integrity and loyalty to the country has been questioned. The Prime Minister should come in the House and make it clear.” Leader of the House Arun Jaitley replied, “We will certainly invite all my colleagues, including leader of the Opposition and try and discuss, find a solution to the issue.” After the meeting, Anand Sharma said, “Unless and until the Government realises the seriousness of the allegations and the Prime Minister accepts to come and clarify, the issue cannot be settled. The Prime Minister’s stature will not diminish. He should show some grace and understanding of the situation. We are still waiting whether the justifiable demand of the Opposition is acceptable to the Prime Minister so that we can bring a closure to the controversy which was painful, which was of his creation and was entirely avoidable.” Lok Sabha

In Lok Sabha, Congress MPs forced an adjournment for half-an-hour during question hour, made speeches with their microphones off, and finally staged a walkout. Egged on by party leader Sonia Gandhi, Congress members trooped into the well in the morning. As Speaker Sumitra Mahajan took up question hour ignoring pleas by Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge that he be heard first, his party colleagues Rajiv Satav, Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev and Ravinder Singh Bitoo took turns at chanting: “Pradhan Mantri maafi mango”, “Hitler raj band karo”, “Poorv pradhan mantri ka apmaan nahin saheinge”.

At one stage, the Speaker paused to remark: “The elections are over and the results are out. I cannot allow you to raise the issue here.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, too, said elections were over and appealed to Congress members to sit down. Instead, the protest even got louder. The protesters started clapping, too, then started hooting. About a half-hour through questions, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon. Later, the Congress came back with a new strategy. Sunil Jakhar, standing close to the Speaker’s podium, made a speech without a microphone, in defiance of the chair. When he finished, Sonia thumped her desk. By then, Rahul Gandhi too had arrived.

Jakhar was followed by Gurjit Singh Aujla, Sushmita, Gogoi, Santokh Singh Chaudhary and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The protestors returned to their seats when Kharge started speaking with his mike off. Nothing of what he said went on record. He wrapped up the speech by announcing a walkout. Later, Ananth Kumar said: “They tried to conduct mock proceedings. One senior Congress leader after another kept speaking defying the chair. The entire House condemns it.”

Inputs by Rahul Tripathi