Uproar over Manipur stalls Parliament again, Rajnath hits back at Opposition

Amid the ruckus, Rajnath Singh, who is also the Deputy Leader of the House, made a brief statement. “The situation in Manipur is very sensitive. Keeping this in mind, the Prime Minister has himself said whatever happened in Manipur has put the whole country to shame. The Prime Minister also said that strictest action should be taken. And, we want that there should be a discussion on the matter in the House,” he said.

He accused the Opposition of not taking the matter seriously and not allowing a discussion. “I see that some political parties are creating a situation so that no discussion on Manipur can take place. I want to clearly state that the Opposition is not as serious about the Manipur incident as it should be. And, Hon’ble Speaker, keeping the seriousness of the Manipur incident in mind, I repeat that there should be a discussion. I urge the Opposition to also take it seriously,” he said.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned until noon soon after Singh’s statement as the Opposition members continued to raise slogans, and held placards, demanding a statement in the House from the Prime Minister.

As the House reconvened, the Opposition continued with its protest as ministers placed their listed matters on the table.

With the Opposition not backing down, Speaker Om Birla said, “Do you not want the House to run? Do you not want to have the Question Hour? Will sloganeering resolve the problems? It will be resolved through discussion and debate. It will be resolved by talking.”

The disruptions led to the House being adjourned until Monday morning.

In Rajya Sabha, proceedings were adjourned within 20 minutes after it met in the morning, with the Opposition raising the Manipur issue – along with other issues – and asking why certain words regarding the Manipur issue were expunged from the record of Thursday’s proceedings.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar was reading out the list of business cleared by the Business Advisory Committee when AAP MPs protested against the inclusion of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill that is to replace an ordinance on services in Delhi. BRS MP K Keshava Rao asked if the Bill could be discussed given that the Supreme Court was hearing a challenge against the ordinance.

Dhankhar replied that Article 121 of the Constitution prevented any discussion in Parliament on the conduct of a judge of the High Court or Supreme Court in discharge of duty. “Therefore, the concept of sub judice is totally misconceived,” he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien then raised a point of order, asking why certain words regarding the Manipur issue were expunged from the record of Thursday’s proceedings. With the Opposition members continuing their protest, the House was adjourned until 2.30 pm. When the House reconvened, the Opposition sloganeering continued, leading to the proceedings being adjourned for the day within a minute.