Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday met Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in an effort to end the impasse in the House over the Manipur issue.
However, sources associated with the opposition say that there is no hope of ending the deadlock as the government is not ready to discuss the issue of Manipur under Rule 267.
“Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar met Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Sharad Pawar in his chamber in Parliament House,” the Vice President’s office tweeted.
Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Ramesh was also present in the meeting.
Sources say that the Speaker met opposition leaders in an effort to end the impasse in the Upper House.
Asked about the possibility of breaking the deadlock in the Rajya Sabha, a senior leader of the opposition alliance ‘INDIA’ said, “The government is only pretending that it wants a discussion. The fact is that it does not want a detailed and comprehensive discussion. We stand by our demand that the issue of Manipur should be discussed under Rule 267 and the Prime Minister should make a statement”.
Ever since the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, opposition members have been demanding a discussion on the Manipur issue under rule 267 and a statement by the Prime Minister.
There is a provision for adjournment of work under this rule.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday made it clear that he cannot direct the Prime Minister to come to the House, as opposition parties remained adamant on demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the Manipur issue.
It may be noted that the Chairman had earlier held a meeting with the leaders of various parties to resolve the current impasse which remained inconclusive.
