Monsoon session: Dhankhar holds meeting with Opposition leaders to end deadlock in House

In the midst of the Rajya Sabha’s disruptions over the Manipur issue and the Opposition’s demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar met with leaders of all Opposition parties on Friday to discuss the House’s proceedings next week.

After the meeting, Union Minister Piyush Goyal addressed a news conference and stated, “The Chairman has suggested that this logjam be broken through proper discussion.”

He further added that “the chairman emphasised that the Parliament should function properly through dialogue, debate and discussion. It is a forum to discuss public issues…He suggested that this logjam should be ended through proper discussion. Everyone should participate for the proper functioning of the Parliament.”

The meeting was an attempt to reach out to the opposition in order to restore normalcy and allow the House to function.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has directed that all leaders relay the chairman’s message to their respective top leadership and make a sensible choice within two or three days.

“Chairman was very upset and emotional about the way one member behaved in the House during the proceeding,” Goyal added.

Amarendra Dhari Singh, an MP from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) who attended the meeting, told the news agency that, “We had the meeting with the Chairman, and its a long discussion meeting and he heard all of us and he appealed with due respect to all the members for smooth functioning of the House.”