RS chairman invites floor leaders for meeting to end impasse over Manipur issue

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar will meet floor leaders of all parties on Thursday in an effort to end the logjam in the House over modalities of discussing the Manipur issueThe proceedings of the Rajya Sabha have been disrupted as opposition parties are insisting that the listed business should be suspended under Rule 267 and discussion on Manipur should be taken up The government on its part has agreed to a short duration discussion under Rule 176 of the Rajya SabhaSoon after the listed papers were tabled in the House the Chairman said he has received 37 notices under Rule 267 on the Manipur issue but he has not accepted anySenior TMC leader Derek OBrien said people want to hear on the Manipur issue and opposition parties want to discuss it He made a strong case for finding a solution to end the logjam as it was not helping anyone The TMC leader also suggested that a six to eighthour discussion be held on the Manipur issueThe Chairman sought the views of Leader of the House Piyush Goyal on the TMC leaders suggestion Goyal said he was grateful to the TMC leader for showing readiness for the debate He said Manipur has always been a sensitive issue and stressed everyone will have to work collectively to bring the healing touch to the state Goyal suggested that leaders could meet over tea and discuss ways for the smooth functioning of the House The government he said is keen for a debate on ManipurChairman Dhankhar invited floor leaders at 1 PM for discussing the way forward When the Chair sought his views on the issue Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge stressed that Rule 267 should get precedence over any other rule and wondered why the government has made it a prestige issue by not agreeing to a discussion under Rule 267 Kharge suggested that the House proceedings should be adjourned till 1 pm However some members objected to the suggestionTo this Kharge said You are not agreeing to even a small suggestion You are also not agreeing to the demand for calling the prime minister in the House Why are you defending the prime minister so much I cannot understandDhankhar took exception to Kharges remarks and said he was not required to defend anyone He said the prime minister has received global recognition and India is rising He further said that after three decades of coalition governments in India you had 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha electoral results under the leadership of the prime minister I am not required to defend anyone I am not required to defend Right I am not required to defend Left I am required to defend the Constitution Dhankhar said and proceeded with the scheduled Zero HourAt this point all the opposition parties under the INDIA alliance staged a walkout from the HouseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever