Govt unlikely to allow Parliament discussion on West Asia crisis

The government is unlikely to accept the opposition's demand for a discussion in Parliament on the West Asia crisis, citing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's statement. Opposition protests disrupted proceedings in both Houses as parties pressed for a debate

New Delhi: The government is unlikely to accede to the demand of the opposition for a discussion in Parliament on the present crisis in West Asia as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has already briefed both Houses.

Sources said the government is keen to have a discussion on the no-confidence motion moved against Speaker Om Birla, which is now likely to be taken up on Tuesday, as protests by the opposition demanding a discussion on West Asia disrupted the proceedings throughout the day on Monday.

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There will be no discussion on the situation in West Asia in Parliament as the external affairs minister has already briefed both Houses, the sources said.

Lok Sabha proceedings were repeatedly adjourned on Monday amid noisy protests over demands for a debate on the situation in West Asia, with the government accusing the opposition benches of not following the basic ethics of the House.

As soon as External Affairs Minister Jaishankar rose to make a statement in the Lok Sabha on the “situation in West Asia”, opposition members started raising slogans against the government and demanded a full-fledged discussion on the ongoing crisis in West Asia.

Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings, said the questions being raised by the opposition through their placards were being answered in detail by the government.

He said while a resolution to remove Birla as the Lok Sabha Speaker was already on the agenda, the opposition was pushing for a notice for adjournment of the proceedings to discuss West Asia.

Pal wondered how the opposition wanted to discuss the two issues on the same day.

After Jaishankar completed his statement, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the opposition of not following the ethics of the House.

Rijiju said their notice to remove Birla from office had already been accepted and the government was willing to discuss it, but the opposition was disrupting the proceedings.

In the Rajya Sabha, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge demanded a short-duration discussion in the Upper House on the emerging challenges to India’s energy security amid the West Asia conflict.

Kharge made the submission just before the external affairs minister made a suo motu statement on the evolving situation in West Asia.

The Congress and other opposition parties protested against him making the statement, saying a short-duration discussion should precede such a move.

They shouted slogans during Jaishankar’s statement before staging a walkout towards the end of the statement.

Outside the House, opposition MPs, including Congress president Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, protested demanding a discussion on the West Asia conflict and criticised the government for its “silence” on critical issues related to it.

Earlier, the floor leaders of opposition parties met in Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Kharge’s chamber in the Parliament House complex to deliberate on the strategy for the second half of the Budget session.

In a post on X, Kharge said, “As the Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session, US-Israel war with Iran has reached our backyard. In this context, it is imperative to have a full-fledged discussion on the current geopolitical crisis.”

“A one-sided statement by the EAM is not the solution. We need to collectively take the nation into confidence. The GOI (Government of India) must come out with a detailed contingency plan to ensure our energy security, assist our traders, diversify supply chains for our exports and stop penalising our people with price hikes. The Opposition demands sensitivity towards our people,” Kharge said after the meeting.