'Constitutionally Ill-Premised': Rajya Sabha Chairman Dismisses Demand For PM Modi's Presence In Parliament On Manipur Issue

Amidst the Opposition leaders' demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar stated, on 1 August, that the demand for only the Prime Minister to respond on Manipur is "constitutionally ill-premised".

Shortly after the House convened for the day, Chairman Dhankhar expressed deep concern and anguish, criticising the members for rendering the Rajya Sabha institution virtually irrelevant.

According to Dhankhar, the insistence of the Opposition members for the Honourable Prime Minister to respond to the debate is constitutionally misguided.

He stated that the accountability of the government to the Parliament and the executive to the legislature is a collective responsibility.

He also pointed out that there was no valid reason for the House to be disrupted repeatedly over the same issue since the Monsoon session began on 20 July, especially when a short-duration discussion on Manipur had already been admitted.

Later in the day, the Congress referred to past instances when the Prime Minister came to the House to provide clarifications and statements in response to the Opposition's demand, without directly mentioning Dhankhar's remarks.

Chairman Dhankhar also referred to a precedent from 2014 when a similar demand was made by Sitaram Yechury, who is now the general secretary of the CPI(M).

Amidst ongoing protests and counter slogans from the treasury benches, the House was adjourned until noon.

During the Question Hour, when the House reconvened, the Opposition walked out after Dhankhar ignored their appeal to allow the Leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, to speak.

The Congress party, without mentioning Dhankhar by name, referred to several interventions made by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

These interventions included discussions on foreign policy regarding Pakistan in August 2000, the Unit Trust of India scam in August 2001, and the situation in Iraq in March 2003.

Kharge informed the reporters that in August 2012, Question Hour was halted when M Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP member, raised concerns about the attacks on migrants from the northeast in various regions of the country.

The issue was discussed in the House, and the then prime minister Manmohan Singh addressed it with a statement in the Parliament.