Monsoon session: Manipur likely to remain deadlocked, AAP leader Sanjay Singh suspended

New Delhi: A similar scene is likely to prevail when Parliament meets again on Tuesday for the fourth day of the ongoing monsoon session after both Houses were adjourned on Monday amid continued uproar by opposition members demanding a detailed statement on the Manipur situation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Significantly, members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will meet at the office of Mallikarjun Kharge, National President of Congress and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, to chalk out a floor management strategy before the commencement of the session of the Upper House. Floor leaders meeting will be held at 10 am.

After the Rajya Sabha resumes at 11 am on Tuesday, the Government’s 36th Report on Action Taken on the Observations and Recommendations contained in the 20th Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee on ‘Tidal Energy Development in India’ will be tabled.

Also, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the 22nd Report (in English and Hindi) of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on ‘India’s Neighborhood First Policy’ will be tabled in the Upper House. The monsoon session, which began on July 20 with a long list of legislative business on the agenda, has seen repeated adjournments due to opposition protests, sloganeering and uproar by members of the new opposition alliance demanding PM Modi’s statement on the situation in Manipur.

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On Monday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till Tuesday after Union Home Minister Amit Shah faced continuous hue and cry from the opposition benches, though he insisted that the Center was ready for a discussion on Manipur. Questioning the intention of the opposition, the Union home minister said, “On the very sensitive issue (Manipur viral video), many members have demanded a discussion and I am ready for a discussion. I don’t know why the opposition does not want to allow the discussion.”

“I request the Leader of the Opposition (in Lok Sabha) to let the discussion happen. It is very important that the truth comes before the whole country,” he said. While Shah was speaking, some opposition members carried placards that read “India stands with the people of Manipur”.
Speaker Om Birla also urged the members of the opposition parties to allow the House to run smoothly. However, amid continuous sloganeering by the opposition members, the Speaker adjourned the House till 11 am on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Upper House witnessed uproar after Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was suspended for the entire session for “repeated disobedience” of the instructions of the Chairman. Singh was the first to be named by the Speaker for disrupting the proceedings of the House when the Question Hour began amid opposition protests over the Prime Minister’s statement on the Manipur violence and demand for a detailed discussion on the issue.

When the proceedings of the House resumed at 12 noon after the first adjournment of the day, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders came near the Speaker’s podium with the demands of the opposition. Dhankhar asked him to sit on his seat again. When you members continued to protest, the Chairman took his name. Soon after the Speaker named Sanjay Singh, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved a motion urging the Speaker to suspend the AAP member, saying such behavior was “completely against the ethics and rules of the House”.

He said that Sanjay Singh should be suspended from the entire session of the House. The Speaker moved the motion for approval of the House stating that Sanjay Singh was being suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon Session of Parliament “for repeatedly disobeying the directions of the Speaker”. However, following the suspension of the senior AAP leader, the opposition parties sat on a night-long protest in the Parliament premises.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Singh said, “We are sitting here since yesterday. Our only demand is that PM Modi should speak on Manipur issue. We will continue to protest here and I still request PM Modi to come to Parliament and speak on Manipur.” No country or system can flourish without discipline or decorum, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday amid repeated disruptions from the opposition, adding that the moment discipline and decorum are compromised, institutions suffer.

Addressing a group of Indian Forest Service probationers at Parliament House on Monday, he said, “As the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, I am working using everything at my command to ensure decorum and discipline in the temple of democracy in the largest democracy.” Calling for zero tolerance for decorum and lack of discipline in the House, he said, “To enforce decorum and discipline, sometimes we have to resort to unpleasant situations, but we should never hesitate because decorum and discipline are linked to our development, prestige and prosperity. The moment we adopt a lenient approach, we do no good service to the society.”

Earlier, Union Minister Rajnath Singh had a telephonic conversation with senior opposition leaders over repeated disruptions demanding a discussion on the Manipur situation and urged them to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament. BJP sources said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay were among the leaders whom the Defense Minister approached to end the impasse in Parliament.