New Delhi, February 9 The Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar and a walkout by the opposition on Monday over the events in the Lok Sabha, where Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi could not complete his speech, and later Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away amidst allegations that female MPs could have attacked him.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, raised the issue as soon as the Question Hour started at 12 noon.
Chairman CP Radhakrishnan allowed Kharge to speak, adding that he should not speak on anything that happened in the other House.
"I am only raising issues concerning the Constitution... Parliament consists of our House and the Lok Sabha... and the Constitution recognizes these two Houses... We have to run according to procedures and rules," Kharge said, and then went on to mention that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House is "not being allowed to speak".
However, Radhakrishnan did not allow him to raise the issue related to the Lok Sabha and said, "Nothing he says will be recorded".
The Chairman proceeded with the Question Hour. However, Kharge and other opposition leaders continued to stand in their seats, demanding to be allowed to speak.
As the Chairman did not relent, opposition MPs started raising slogans, accusing the ruling BJP of insulting female MPs. MPs from all parties in the INDIA bloc were on their feet, except the TMC.
After raising slogans for a while, the opposition MPs staged a walkout from the House, and the Question Hour continued.
The Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3 after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was disallowed by the Chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M M Naravane's 'unpublished memoir' in which he has referred to the India-China conflict of 2020. Eight opposition MPs have also been suspended from the House.
On February 5, an anguished Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he had "concrete information" that many Congress members might move towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seat and carry out "some unexpected act" as a result of which he had requested him not to come to the House to reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.
Meanwhile, Congress' women MPs in the Lok Sabha wrote to Birla on Monday, claiming that under pressure from the ruling party to defend the "non-appearance" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he made grave allegations against them.
Several opposition parties have decided to move a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from office for disallowing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.