The Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for almost an hour on Monday following heated exchanges between Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and TMC’s Derek O’Brien over the chair not mentioning the party affiliations of opposition members seeking a discussion 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. “You are challenging the Chair,” Dhankhar remarked before adjourning the proceedings till 1200 hours. Earlier, soon after the listed papers were laid on the table, Dhankhar said he has received 11 notices under rule 176 and began reading out names and subjects.
