Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar stormed out of a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Friday, with sources in the House ascribing his exit to a "lack of decorum."
Opposition leaders, however, alleged that he walked out following acrimonious differences between ruling party members and the Opposition regarding which matters needed to be taken up for discussion.
An Opposition lawmaker described tensions emanating mainly from differing over a demand to table reports of what he termed as duplicate voter ID (EPIC) numbers and calling bills before the parliamentary committees to be examined.
In spite of this, Rajya Sabha sources refuted that the EPIC (Electors Photo Identification Card) matter was even discussed. They asserted that the Chairman decided to walk out as neither the government nor the Opposition was ready to compromise on their respective positions.
The BAC meeting was called to finalize the agenda for the Rajya Sabha for the next week.
Their MPs asked the government to make time for debating important issues, such as EPIC cards, the Manipur situation, and the examination of legislative bills, said a senior Opposition leader. They contended that even though they had submitted daily notices calling for discussions, no time was being reserved for these issues.
While the Opposition promised cooperation with government business, they complained about their issues being pushed aside, which resulted in a stalemate in the meeting. Later, Dhankhar walked out during the stand-off.
Another member of the Opposition said they had warned the Chairman about their flexibility in terms of the rules of procedure for debating the EPIC issue, and the language of their notice, but insisted that the debate has to happen.
The Trinamool Congress, which has been consistently demanding a debate on the subject, has threatened to hold protests if the issue is not raised in Parliament. Some TMC MPs have been giving notices on the subject virtually daily.
The BAC meeting occurred on the same day there were heated exchanges in the Rajya Sabha between government and Opposition members amid comments made by Samajwadi Party leader Ramji Lal Suman.
During a recent speech in the Upper House, Suman referred to Rajput king Rana Sanga as a "traitor," sparking outrage. In response, Karni Sena workers vandalized his residence in Agra on Wednesday.
On Friday, Rajya Sabha was temporarily adjourned and had an Opposition walkout over the incident. While the Opposition criticized the attack on Suman's house, BJP ministers and MPs called for an unconditional apology from Suman for his remarks.
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