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Opposition parties walk out of Rajya Sabha over Tawang border clash
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said the House has lost 100 minutes in three days to disruptions last week
NEW DELHI: Opposition parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Monday over their demand to discuss the recent face-off with China in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh after chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar firmly rejected a bunch of requests to suspend business to discuss the recent clashes between Indian and Chinese troops.
Dhankhar said the nine notices that sought suspension of business on different issues received by his office did not fulfil the basic requirements under rule 267, prompting Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge to urge the chairman to use his residuary powers to hold the discussion.
“I urge you to use your (Chair’s) residuary powers to raise issues pertaining to China. China is trespassing on our land and making their own houses and factories. If you don’t take up these matters then what matters will you?” said Kharge.
Dhankhar responded that the rules provided for use of residuary powers under rule 266 if a matter is not specifically provided for by the rules.
“Rule 266 comes into the picture only and only if matters are not provided specifically under the rules,” Dhankhar said, advising Kharge to get his office to become “a little more functional”. Kharge protested.
Apart from the Congress, news agency ANI said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Samajwadi Party (SP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena and the Kerala Congress staged the walkout.
Union minister and leader of the House Piyush Goyal objected to LoP Kharge’s statement, insisting that the opposition leader was lowering the dignity of his post by raising such issues.
“I can list several important matters that were not discussed under the Congress’s tenure and even the Deputy Chairman had raised the issue. This is also true that their minister in 2012, E Ahamed told the House in reply to a question that China continues to be in illegal occupation of 38000 sq km in J&K… They are raising baseless issues.”
Opposition parties have been trying to corner the Centre over clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Arunachal’s Yangtse area on December 9, leading to disruptions and walkouts.
In a statement to both houses, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on December 13 that Chinese troops attempted to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Yangtse sector on December 9, and unilaterally change the status quo along the contested border, but were pushed back by Indian soldiers.
As Rajya Sabha chairman rejected the requests to suspend the listed business on Monday, he also reprimanded the members for disruptions which he said had led to “more than 100 minutes of disruption on December 13, 15 and 16” and “has sent not a good signal”.
“It is a painful duty for me that not only the rule is outraged, no attention whatsoever has been laid on the rule. The notices are drawn in a manner as if the rule doesn’t exist. I expect the members to follow the procedure indicated in the rule, go through all the two essential elements and then carve out notice,” he said.
