New Delhi: The Budget Session of Parliament witnessed repeated disruptions on Monday as opposition parties — led by the Indian National Congress, Trinamool Congress, and the INDIA bloc — demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing ethnic unrest in Manipur, which has now entered its second year.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned at least three times each as opposition members rushed into the Well of the House, holding placards and raising slogans. Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar urged members to return to their seats and maintain decorum, but the protests continued through the morning session.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, addressing reporters outside Parliament, said the Prime Minister’s silence on Manipur was “deafening and deeply troubling.” He demanded that the government convene a special session dedicated to discussing the humanitarian crisis in the northeastern state, where more than 200 people have died and thousands have been displaced since the violence began.
Home Minister Amit Shah, however, told reporters that the government remained fully committed to restoring peace and had deployed additional central forces in the region. “We are in constant dialogue with all communities. Peace is being restored in a phased manner,” Shah said, dismissing the opposition’s demands as politically motivated.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at the opposition, with party spokesperson Sambit Patra accusing the INDIA bloc of “playing vote bank politics” over a sensitive security matter. He pointed out that the situation on the ground had significantly improved over the past three months.
The Lok Sabha was finally able to conduct Question Hour in the afternoon session after the Speaker gave limited time to opposition leaders to raise the issue through a short-duration discussion. However, the government declined to bring a formal statement, saying it would be “premature at this stage.”
