Opposition enters Well in RS, boycotts proceedings over no discussion on China border issue

Dhankhar told Opposition leaders that their behavior would "haunt" them for ages. He asked the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to meet him in his chambers at 1 PM to which Kharge said that the opposition only wants certain issues to be discussed in the open. "We don't want to talk inside the chambers. The entire nation has the right to know," Kharge told the Chairman.

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Thursday saw a rough exchange of words between Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the members of the opposition protesting in the House in the morning session (Zero Hour). Demanding a discussion on the recent Tawang issue in Arunachal Pradesh and an apology by Union Minister Piyush Goyal on his 'Bihar remarks', the opposition members entered the Well, thereby triggering a reaction from the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar

Dhankhar told Opposition leaders that their behavior would "haunt" them for ages. He asked the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to meet him in his chambers at 1 PM to which Kharge said that the opposition only wants certain issues to be discussed in the open. "We don't want to talk inside the chambers. The entire nation has the right to know. This fight is for the country," Kharge told the Chairman even as he clarified that the opposition does not intend on embarrassing him in any way. "We all respect you and none of us wants to embarrass you, sir. But the parliamentary democracy operates like this," he clarified.

"We only want certain issues to be discussed -- the border issue with China and the comment made by Union Minister (Piyush Goyal) on Bihar," Kharge told the Chairman. Dhankhar, who reiterated that he is surprised at such behavior by the Opposition, said there are rules to be followed and he is there to clarify them. "Don't compel me to invoke the rule. I have tried everything to get this under control. You are asking for the same things every single day even though you know it's in violation of rule 267. I am not angry, I am disappointed," Dhankhar said.

Kharge, in response, argued that is also the responsibility of the House to manage situations like these where the demands are being made under certain conventions. "There are rules, but there are some conventions and other provisions too. When such situations arise, it's also the responsibility of the House to manage them. All our demands are under the convention," Kharge said. The proceedings gradually let the steam off, as the question hour commenced minutes after the argument settled with inputs from Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman as well.

Meanwhile, the entire Opposition led by the Congress boycotted the Rajya Sabha proceeding for the day after the discussion on the China border issue was disallowed in the House. They also raised an objection to certain remarks made on Bihar by the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal earlier during the session.

"We have been demanding a discussion on the border conflict with China from day one but the government is adamant. The entire opposition has decided to boycott the proceedings of the House for the entire day today," Congress leader K C Venugopal said. The Leader of the House has also insulted Bihar and its millions of people by his remarks.

Other opposition members also joined the Congress in boycotting the proceedings to press their demand for a discussion on China and an apology from the Leader of House for his remarks on Bihar. Goyal made the remark on Tuesday when RJD MP Manoj Jha was speaking during a discussion on the Appropriation Bill seeking Parliament's nod for additional spending.

As he said the government should devote equal attention to the poor and corporate houses, Goyal responded saying "inka bas chale to desh ko Bihar bana dein (if they have their way, they will turn the country into Bihar)."