Rajya Sabha Chairman meets MPs of various parties for smooth running of House

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with MPs from various parties in his chamber in Parliament Tuesday

New Delhi: Amid a deadlock in the Rajya Sabha over the Manipur violence issue, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with MPs from various parties in his chamber in Parliament Tuesday to seek their support in ensuring the smooth running of the House.

He met Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, besides Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress whip Jairam Ramesh.

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Dhankhar also met the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman along with them.

This was a joint meeting to help break the impasse in the house, as both the opposition and the ruling dispensation have stuck to their stands on the Manipur issue.

The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have not been able to function normally ever since the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 20.

Wednesday was the fifth day in a row when the opposition caused uproar in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the Manipur situation, but the chair in both Houses let those function and allowed passage of bills amid the din.

Dhankhar separately met BJD MPs Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra, BRS MP K Keshava Rao, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi and CPI-M MP John Brittas.

The Rajya Sabha chairman had on Tuesday met MPs of NCP and DMK, including Sharad Pawar and Tiruchi Siva, and parliamentarians of the Aam Aadmi Party.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh has been suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the Monsoon session that is likely to end on August 11.

Dhankhar had earlier convened a meeting on Friday to break the deadlock in the Upper House, which ended within minutes as floor leaders of various parties were not present.