Parliament: Both Houses Adjourned Till Noon Over Manipur, Heated Exchanges in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon on Monday following protests by Opposition over the Manipur issue.

The Rajya Sabha proceedings were also adjourned for almost an hour on Monday following heated exchanges between Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and TMC's Derek O'Brien over the issue of party affiliations of those submitting notices on the Manipur issue.

Dhankhar read out the names of the MPs and the political parties they are affiliated with while detailing the 11 notices received under rule 176, mostly from treasury benches, seeking short-duration discussions over violence in states ranging from Rajasthan to Manipur.

But when he started to read out the notices received under rule 267 from MPs of opposition parties who sought to set aside the business of the day to take up the Manipur issue, he did not mention the party affiliations.

O'Brien asked the chairman to also mention the parties of the MPs who had given notices under rule 267, just like he did for MPs giving notices under rule 176.

Dhankhar asked O'Brien to take his seat but the TMC leader was not in a relenting mood.

O'Brien also found support from his fellow MPs.

"You are challenging the Chair," Dhankhar remarked before adjourning the proceedings till 1200 hours.

INDIA -- Opposition Parties Protest in Parliament Complex

Leaders of several Opposition parties on Monday staged a protest in Parliament complex demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the House on the Manipur issue.

Holding placards and banners that read "INDIA for Manipur" and "INDIA demands PM's statement on Manipur", the opposition parties raised slogans against the government in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament complex.

Speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said it is the Prime Minister's duty to make a comprehensive statement in Parliament on Manipur violence.

"It is shameful that the prime minister is making a statement outside the House, when Parliament is in session. It is his duty to make a comprehensive statement inside Parliament on Manipur violence," the Congress leader said.

"We are requesting the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of Lok Sabha that the PM should make a statement on the situation in Manipur. We want a discussion under Rule 167 but the Modi government wants a short duration discussion under Rule 176 for half an hour. We want under Rule 267 under which there can also be voting," he said.

The Prime Minister should first make a statement and then we will have a discussion under Rule 267, he said

The Modi government and the BJP cannot run away from its constitutional duty and answerability on Manipur, Kharge added.

The government has agreed to hold a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue with the Home Minister replying to it, but the opposition is adamant on its demand for the prime minister's statement first.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have failed to transact any business during the Monsoon Session amid the stalemate between the opposition and the government over the Manipur issue.