manipur: Opposition to skip meeting called by Dhankhar to end Rajya Sabha logjam

Opposition alliance INDIA will not attend the meeting called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday afternoon to end the logjam in the House on the Manipur issue, sources said. The opposition believes that a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a comprehensive discussion on Manipur, which has been rocked by months of ethnic violence, is out of the question, they said.

Dhankhar invited leaders of all parties for the meeting in an effort to end the impasse in the Rajya Sabha.

Proceedings in the Upper House were interrupted as opposition parties demanded a discussion on the situation in Manipur under Rule 267, which allows for the suspension of listed business for the day to discuss an issue .

The government, however, agreed to hold a short-lived discussion under Rule 176 of the Rajya Sabha.

Opposition parties will not attend the meeting called by Dhankhar, sources said.

The opposition is not specific on the terms on which a discussion should be held in Manipur, but it should be a full-fledged discussion without any time constraints, they said. The INDIA bloc narrated the stories heard by its delegation during its recent visit to Manipur to the President. Now, it wants to share them with both houses of Parliament, they said.