Kharge, Goyal exchange barbs in Rajya Sabha over debate on Manipur

New Delhi: Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday exchanged barbs at each other in the Rajya Sabha over the debate on Manipur, with Kharge demanding the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Goyal saying atrocities on women in opposition-ruled states will also be discussed in the House.

The opposition raised an uproar from the start of the Question Hour when the House met at noon, with members of the Congress and other like-minded parties raising slogans "Manipur, Manipur".

Kharge said over 50 members have given notices for discussion on the Manipur issue under rule 267, but the government is not ready. Goyal countered him by saying Union Home Minister Amit Shah is ready to have a discussion on the issues related to atrocities on women in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and West Bengal. "The home minister is ready for that... he would do 'doodh ka doodh' and 'paani ka paani' (differentiate between truth and lies), " he said.

Kharge also questioned the absence of Modi in the House. "When so many people want to talk about this, why are they not ready to talk? Why Modi 'sahab' does not come here and explain the situation? Outside, he talks about East India company, but he is not ready to talk about Manipur in the House," he said.

Goyal objected to Kharge's remarks and accused the opposition of disturbing the House and not allowing discussions on such a sensitive issue. "This is pointless and we are ready for discussion... we want to have a healthy debate and discussion on this," he asserted.

Goyal further said, "We want to highlight the atrocities against women. We want to highlight what is happening in Manipur, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. We are concerned about what is happening in the country. We want the state governments to be accountable." The Leader of the House said this is not a matter to be politicised but is a matter to our heart.

"This is a sensitive issue and shows some sincerity on this. Be sensitive towards women. You are not sensitive towards women," he alleged.

Terming the opposition's remarks as "pointless", Goyal said if they have some points, then they would have started the discussion.

"If you were sensitive (about the matter), you would have been discussing the matter. You have been disrupting the House for the last four days. You are spoiling the future of the youths of this country," he said. After this there was an uproar from both sides and the chairman of the House adjourned the Rajya Sabha proceedings till 2 pm.