New Delhi: Leaders of 17 opposition parties met in the Parliament House complex on Wednesday and decided to chalk out a joint strategy to corner the government on the India-China border issue.
The meeting took place after opposition MPs walked out of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the second consecutive day as their demand for a discussion on the clash near Tawang in Arunachal was not allowed.
Leaders of Opposition – from Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, NCP, National Conference, DMK, Shiv Sena (Thackeray), CPI(M), CPI, JD(U), VCK, KCM, IUML, Kerala Congress, AIUDF, MDMK and RLD The meeting took place in the chamber of Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. The Trinamool Congress did not attend the meeting, but gave a message that “it will abide by whatever decision is taken”.
As soon as the proceedings of the House began, opposition MPs started demanding discussion on the issue of China in both the Houses. But neither Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla nor Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh accepted this demand. Birla rejected the adjournment notice by the Congress, saying the Business Advisory Committee would take a decision on it. Protesting Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru had allowed 165 members to participate in the discussion in the House on the 1962 Indo-China war and only then decided what to do.
Speaking during Zero Hour, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari (one of the members who moved the adjournment motion) also cited the example of Nehru. He said six sessions were held since September 2020, when the House met for the first time after the Chinese transgression in April 2020, but the boundary issue was not discussed even once, despite repeated requests from opposition MPs.
Referring to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement in Parliament on Tuesday, Tiwari said, “There are important questions that need to be asked.” Why are these skirmishes happening, first Galwan and now Yangtse? What do the Chinese want? Is the government aware of Chinese intentions? Have we lost any territory?
