Centre reaches out to Opposition leaders as protests mar Parliament

The opposition INDIA alliance has been insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must speak on Manipur that has been riven by ethnic violence since May 3.

The government’s efforts to end the logjam in Parliament is yet to make headway despite defence minister Rajnath Singh discussing contentious issues with Congress president and Rajya Sabha’s leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s TR Balu and Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Lok Sabha floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay.

The Opposition protest outside Parliament in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

No business could be conducted in Parliament for three consecutive days of the monsoon session. The opposition INDIA alliance has been insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must speak on Manipur that has been riven by ethnic violence since May 3. The Congress, TMC and DMK are the top three opposition parties in Parliament.

The INDIA alliance MPs also protested at the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to oppose Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh’s suspension from Rajya Sabha for “unruly behaviour”, and to press for further debate on Manipur. Earlier in the day, members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party staged a sit in to draw attention to increasing atrocities against women in Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Congress.

Watch | Manipur Crisis: Night Protest Outside Parliament | Opposition MPs Demand Answer From Govt

“Rajnath Singh called the Congress president on Sunday evening and spoke about the logjam in the House,” a Congress functionary said, wishing to remain unnamed. Kharge told Singh that the opposition wants a detailed discussion in Parliament on Manipur and the Prime Minister should give a statement in the House, he said.

“The defence minister asked us to see if we can find a solution. I told him that we will discuss your proposal in the meeting of INDIA alliance and inform my leader Mamata Banerjee. I also told him that the demand of INDIA should be sorted out,” Bandopadhyay said on Monday.

Last week, Singh had accused some opposition parties for “not being serious enough” on the Manipur issue. His latest outreach underlines the government’s increased efforts to end the logjam and start a discussion on the situation in the northeastern state.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar announced on Monday that he has received 27 notices for discussion under Rule 167, which entails a discussion without voting, as opposed to adjournment motions preferred by the INDIA alliance. Dhankhar later met Kharge in another attempt to break the logjam.

Even as the discussions continued, the INDIA alliance refused to budge from their key condition—a statement from Modi. After the Upper House was adjourned amid disruption, Dhankhar called floor leaders for a meeting, but the opposition walked out of it when he refused attendence of AAP’s Raghav Chadha and TMC’s Santanu Sen.

Earlier in the day, both opposition leaders and treasury bench members protested at the Gandhi statue. BJP lawmakers protested over allegations of growing atrocities against women in Rajasthan and demanded immediate dismissal of the state government led by chief minister Ashok Gehlot. The INDIA parties staged a dharna demanding a debate on Manipur.

“The Parliament is going on. It is your (PM) duty to first inform the Parliament members, then to public. Suppose, if Parliament was not there, session was not there, you (PM) could have spoken outside, but on the floor of Parliament, you must speak,” Kharge told reporters. “Therefore, we are requesting the chairman of Rajya Sabha and speaker of Lok Sabha that he (PM) should come to the House and make a statement on what is the real situation in Manipur.”

TMC’s all India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who was among the protestors at the Gandhi statue, said: “You (the government) spent ₹1,500 crore to build a new Parliament building, but don’t want to discuss any issue. There is an attempt to divert the attention from Manipur and talk about Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh or West Bengal (all ruled by opposition parties). I want to say that for the past three months, internet is available in Bengal.”

Opposition leaders met on Monday for floor strategy. They decided to object any attempt to bring in the Delhi ordinance without prior notice, according to opposition leaders.

Some non-Congress parties suggested that the INDIA alliance has to move faster, form coordination committees and think of new forms of protests outside the two Houses, said an opposition leader. Some leaders also favoured sending a delegation of chief ministers of the INDIA alliance to Manipur.Al