Both Houses adjourned for the day as deadlock over Manipur continues

As the deadlock in Parliament continued on Monday over the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, both the Houses were adjourned for the day as Opposition parties continued demanding a statement from the Prime Minister on the issue of violence in the BJP-ruled northeastern state.

However, amid the ruckus in both the Houses, Lok Sabha cleared the Cinematograph Amendment Bill, 2023, which was already passed in the Rajya Sabha.

The Monsoon session of Parliament is likely to witness another stormy session on Tuesday as the government may introduce Delhi Services Bill as it didn’t get introduced in the House due to the ongoing uproar in the Lower House. The Opposition parties, including Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), have issued whip for the presence of their MPs in the House.

Earlier, when the lower House met at 11 am, Speaker Om Birla announced that a parliamentary delegation from Malawi is visiting India and they are watching the proceedings of the House. As he completed his speech, the Opposition members were on their feet displaying placards and raising slogans.

The speaker initially ignored their protests and continued the Question Hour, which was the scheduled business. Two questions related to the education and finance ministries were taken up for discussion amid sloganeering and protests. The members of Congress, TMC, DMK, etc entered the Well and started raising slogans to push their demand for the presence of PM Modi and his statement in the House on incidents of violence in Manipur.

As the protests continued, the speaker appealed to the Opposition members to go back to their seats and take part in the proceedings. With the Opposition MPs ignoring his pleas, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till 2 pm after about 15 minutes of the business.

A similar situation prevailed in Rajya Sabha as Opposition parties insisted on a discussion over the Manipur issue. The House was adjourned for the day.

In the morning, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal told the Rajya Sabha that the government was ready for a discussion on Manipur and urged the Chair to begin it at 2 pm itself.

The chairman told the House that he has rejected all notices received under Rule 267 from the Opposition members as he has already agreed to a short-duration discussion under Rule 176.

When the Opposition members insisted on a discussion under Rule 267, Dhankhar said, “I have not admitted notices under Rule 267. They have been declined by me.” As the uproar continued, the chairman first adjourned the House till 2.30 pm and then again till 3.30 pm.

Earlier in the day, when the chair asked the Opposition if it was agreeable to a discussion, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge insisted it should only be under Rule 267.

“We have demanded a discussion under Rule 267. Our members have visited Manipur. Manipur is burning…. We want (a discussion) under Rule 267….,” the Congress leader said.

When the House reassembled, Dhankhar allowed Kharge to speak, which was objected by the ruling party members and Kharge was not allowed to speak.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked the leader of the House and Opposition leaders to meet him at his chamber at 2:45 pm to resolve the issue. However, the meeting failed to yield any positive results as protests continued that led to multiple disruptions and finally adjournment of the House for the day.

Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook allows for the suspension of the day’s business to debate on any issue suggested by a member.