Opposition walks out from Rajya Sabha on Kharge being not allowed to speak

The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed an uproar and a walkout by the Opposition over the incidents of the Lok Sabha, where Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi could not finish his speech, and later Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away amid allegations that women MPs could have attacked him.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, raised the issue as soon as the Question Hour started at 12 noon. Chairman CP Radhakrishnan allowed Kharge to speak, adding that he should not speak on anything that happened in the other House.

"I am only raising issues concerning the Constitution... Parliament consists of our House and Lok Sabha... and the Constitution recognises these two Houses... We have to run according to procedures and rules..." Kharge said and went ahead to mention the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House is "not being allowed to speak".

Radhakrishnan, however, did not allow him to raise the issue relating to the Lok Sabha and said "nothing that he says will go on record". The Chairman proceeded with the Question Hour.

However, Kharge and other Opposition leaders continued to stand in their seats, demanding to be allowed to speak. As the Chairman did not relent, Opposition MPs started raising slogans, accusing the ruling BJP of insulting women MPs. MPs of all the INDIA bloc parties were on their feet, except the TMC.

After raising slogans for a while, the Opposition MPs staged a walkout from the House, and the Question Hour continued.

Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3 after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was disallowed by the Chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M M Naravane's 'unpublished memoir' in which he has referred to the India-China conflict of 2020. Eight Opposition MPs have also been suspended from the House.

On February 5, an anguished Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he had "concrete information" that many Congress members might move towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seat and carry out "some unexpected act" as a result of which he had requested him not to come to the House to reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

Congress' women MPs in the Lok Sabha, meanwhile, wrote to Birla on Monday, claiming that under pressure from the ruling party to defend the "non-appearance" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he made grave allegations against them.

Several Opposition parties have decided to move a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from office for disallowing Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.