“Opposition keeps looking for excuses to disrupt Parliament” Anurag Thakur

Both Houses of Parliament adjourned till Monday amid opposition uproar

New Delhi/ Himachal, July 21 – With opposition parties staying firm over a debate on Manipur horror and in no mood to relent over other issues such as Centre’s Delhi ordinance, the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament remained virtually paralyzed for second consecutive day of the ongoing Monsoon session.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would now meet at 11 AM on Monday.

With opposition members pressing for discussion on Manipur violence and a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two Houses have been barely allowed to function and take up any legislative business.

While members of the ruling party have maintained that they are ready for discussion on Manipur, the opposition parties have accused the government of running away from the debate.

Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said that the opposition keeps looking for excuses to disrupt Parliament.

“Why is the opposition running away from the discussion? Is it because their own leaders are no more members of the Parliament?” he asked, referring to Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha has also witnessed continuous uproar from opposition party members. The proceedings of the House could not continue even for 20 minutes today morning. As Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members started protesting against Delhi ordinance and inclusion of the Bill to replace it.

A member of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) wanted to know if the Bill could be discussed considering Supreme Court was hearing a challenge against the ordinance.

This was followed by TMC leader Derek O’Brien raising a Point of Order to ask why certain words pertaining to the Manipur issue were expunged from the record of Thursday’s proceedings.

The House soon descended into chaos forcing adjournment. Later in the afternoon it met barely for a few minutes before being adjourned for the day.