Monsoon Session Day 1 Highlights: Both Houses Adjourned Amid Opposition Uproar Over Manipur Issue

Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day on Thursday amid din over the demand by Opposition members for a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Manipur violence in the House.

The opposition members demanded PM Modi's statement and a detailed discussion on Manipur violence by suspending other business of the day even as the government expressed its willingness to discuss the matter.

When the Upper House of Parliament, which was also adjourned in the morning session, resumed, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked for listed papers to be laid.

Opposition members started raising slogans when Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur moved to introduce the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to further amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge said he has been demanding a discussion on the Manipur issue since morning but has not been allowed one.

Dhankhar asked opposition members to maintain decorum. But continuous sloganeering, forced him to adjourn the House for the day.

In Lok Sabha, Opposition members shouted slogans such as "Manipur Manipur" and "Manipur is burning". Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said that the government has already made it clear that it was open to a discussion on Manipur in both Houses of Parliament.

He said that Deputy leader in Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh has also given a similar assurance. Joshi said that Home Minister Amit Shah would make a detailed reply once the discussion takes place, the time of which will be decided by the Speaker.

As opposition members continued raising slogans, Kirit Solanki, who was chairing proceedings, adjourned Lok Sabha for the day.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the incident of women being paraded naked in Manipur has shamed 140 crore Indians, asserting that the law will act with its full might and no guilty will be spared.

"Today, when I am standing by this temple of democracy my heart is full of pain and anger," he told reporters in his remarks at the Parliament complex before the start of the Monsoon session and amid his criticism by opposition parties for not speaking on the ethnic violence in the BJP-ruled northeast state.

"I want to assure the countrymen that no guilty will be spared. The law will act with its full might and firmness... What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven," he said.

The other highlight of the day is Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking up to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to enquire about her health.