Rajya Sabha adjourned amid scenes of Jagdeep Dhankhar vs Derek O'Brien on Manipur

Soon after the House assembled for the day and papers were laid on the table, the Opposition started raising the issue requesting the chair to consider their notices on the suspension of business of the Upper House to conduct a detailed discussion on the matter.

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned on Monday, first for around 30 minutes and then for the entire day, after heated exchanges between House Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien after the latter urged Dhankhar to mention party affiliations of members of the Opposition who sought a discussion on Manipur violence.

A war of words ensued upon mentioning party affiliations of the members of the Opposition. It was like a deja vu. Jagdeep Dhankhar vs Derek O'Brien again. Context and setting were different but the monsoon Session brought the two protagonists face to face once again. In the West Bengal assembly, too, similar scenes were witnessed when Dhankhar was the Governor.

Dhankhar on Monday read out names of the MPs along with the political parties they were affiliated with stating that 11 notices had been received under rule 176, to raise short-duration discussions, to discuss violence in states including Rajasthan and Manipur. However, when Dhankhar began reading out 27 notices that were received under Rule 267, which states that the House should halt all business “to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance”, from MPs of Opposition parties but he did not mention their party affiliations.

Upon this, O'Brien asked Jagdeep Dhankhar to mention their party affiliations, just as he did for those who submitted notices under rule 176. As Dhankhar began naming the MPs, O'Brien was heard shouting, “Which party? Which party? I want to know.”