Rajya Sabha Chairman convenes meeting of floor leaders to end impasse over Manipur issue

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar convened a meeting of leaders at 1 pm on Thursday in an effort to end the logjam in the House over modalities of discussing the Manipur issue. The Chairman said he has already given a ruling and cannot accept the demand of opposition members for discussion under Rule 267 on the Manipur violence, reported ANI. Dhankhar said he has already said that the discussion under Rule 176 will not be restricted to 2.5 hours and he will allocate as much time as required but his suggestion has not fructified. TMC leader Derek O’Brien said the opposition members want a discussion and people want to listen to the MPs. He said Manipur needs consolation. Leader of House Piyush Goyal said the government has been proactive in its actions concerning the situation in Manipur and has been ready for a debate. He said there should be a message of peace and stability in the state which has seen ethnic violence. Parties belonging to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc have been protesting over their demand since the start of the monsoon session of Parliament for a detailed debate on the Manipur situation and a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With inputs from ANI