Kharge says his mic was turned off, Opposition walks out of RS

Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday claimed he was 'insulted' as his mic was turned off while he was speaking in the House the previous day.

In the morning session, the House also witnessed acrimonious exchanges between opposition and treasury benches and sloganeering by the two sides, leading to a brief adjournment.

Referring to Tuesday's proceedings, Kharge said he was not allowed to speak in the House and 'my mic was turned off'.

"It was a breach of my privilege. This is my insult. My self-respect has been challenged.

"If the House is run on the instructions of the government, then I will understand that it is not a democracy," the Congress president said.

Other opposition members supported Kharge with many of them raising slogans.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked them to take their seats.

When he informed Kharge that several MPs were standing in the rows behind him, the Congress leader said, "Mere peechhe khade agar nahi honge toh kya Modi ke peechhe khade honge? (If they will not stand behind me, will they stand behind Modi?)"

Dhankhar and several members were seen smiling on Kharge's remarks.

Soon, treasury benches started shouting 'Modi, Modi'.

Opposition MPs too started raising their own slogans that could not be heard amid the din.

The Chair tried to restore order in the House but in vain.

Around 11.40 am, the proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon.

When the Upper House of Parliament reassembled for the post lunch period, Deputy Chairman Harivansh called Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda to move the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 amid demand from the opposition members for discussion on the Manipur issue.

He then gave the floor to Kharge, who asked the deputy chairman not to shut his mic in jest.

Harivansh, in turn, asked Kharge to listen to him as well after he spoke.

Kharge said the opposition wanted a discussion on the Manipur issue as well as a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said that they are still waiting for it.

He said even after five days, the prime minister has not come to the House and even he is watching the proceedings from his office.

The Leader of Opposition wondered why the prime minister was not giving a statement.

As a consequence, he said, the opposition parties have not been able to put forward their views even as the whole country is willing to listen to them.

The government is not giving the opportunity to the opposition put forth their views and is also not listening to their demand, he alleged.

In protest against the stand of the government, Kharge said, "We are staging a walkout."

Harivansh asked the opposition members to listen to him before walking out but in vain.

Earlier, Dravida Muenntra Kazhagam member Tiruchi N Siva had also raised the issue of Kharge's mic being turned off.

The Chairman, however, clarified that the mic was not turned off. He said he has checked with the deputy chairperson.

The floor was given to Kharge when the House was discussing a legislative matter, Dhankhar said.

"Any transgression that takes place... everyone in the House is aware that cannot be allowed. At that stage, the deputy chairperson intervened. So, it not that mics were turned off," he said.

After the listed papers were laid on the table of the House, Dhankhar said he has received 42 notices for suspension of scheduled business to take up a discussion on the Manipur issue. He did not approve any of the notices under Rule 267 of the House.

He further said he has received representation of MPs from northeastern states for a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue at the earliest.

He read out the representation which stated that the government of India and the state government have taken many steps to restore normalcy in Manipur.

These MPs, the chairman said, have demanded that a discussion be held at the earliest so that members across party lines can take part in it and give constructive suggestions.

Dhankhar said a notice in this regard has already been admitted under Rule 176, and the date and time of the discussion will be fixed after consulting Leader of the House Piyush Goyal.

This led to a protest by opposition members who have been demanding that the discussion be held under Rule 267 and Modi make a statement on the Manipur issue in the House.

Amidst the protest, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stood up and expressed shock that "a member of this House called other members of this House 'dhokebaaz' (cheater)".

"I condemn this. It should be removed and the Honourable member should apologise," she said without naming the member.

Dhankhar also referred to certain media reports which quoted an MP as saying that AAP member Sanjay Singh was suspended from the House for raising an issue.

Dhankhar said the member was suspended not for raising an issue, but because of his misconduct and indecorous behaviour. He stressed that no one is suspended from the House for raising issues.

"We cannot allow these kinds of things. It is a plain and simple breach of privilege. Putting it in the public domain that this House suspended a member because the member was trying to raise an issue is unpardonable. This is an aggravated form of breach of privilege," Dhankhar said.

Sanjay Singh was on Monday suspended from Rajya Sabha for the rest of the Monsoon session for repeatedly 'violating' the directives of the Chair while protesting on the Manipur issue.

On the occasion of the 24th Kargil Vijay Diwas on Wednesday, Rajya Sabha also paid tributes to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the 1999 Kargil war.