Cong stages walkout from RS as govt refuses clarifications on Rajnath's statement on Tawang clash

The Congress on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after it was denied permission to seek clarifications on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement on the clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Tawang sector.

Congress members said there was no point in sitting inside the House if they are not given clarifications. Members of the CPI, CPI-M, Shiv Sena, RJD, SP and JMM joined the Congress members in staging a walkout from the House.

Deputy Chairman Harivansh said since the matter was sensitive in nature, no clarifications would be allowed. He also cited several instances in the past when no clarifications were allowed in the House on sensitive issues.

”The opposition repeatedly asked for a debate on the Chinese transgression, but the government refused to allow it. The defence minister left without giving any clarification to the House. This is not good for the nation,” Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after staging the walkout.

He said there was no point sitting inside the House if the government refuses to give any clarifications.

He, however, said his party stood united with the armed forces. Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the face-off resulted in ”minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides”, the Indian Army said on Monday.

The clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive sector took place last Friday amid the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh. RJD MP Manoj Jha said the deputy chairman cited various precedents, but asked how one can forget the 1962 Parliament session when the Indo-China conflict was debated in the House.

”This government lives in brazen denial of the Indo-China conflict,” Jha charged.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the MPs are being denied their parliamentary privileges.