Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks, melee outside lead to disruption in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI: Opposition protest over home minister Amit Shah's remarks on Ambedkar and the reported scuffle between Congress and BJP MPs at the entrance of the new Parliament House in the pre-lunch period led to disruptions in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, resulting in no work being done. BJP MP from Nagaland, S Fangnon Konyak, lodged a complaint against the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for walking close to her and shouting slogans during the protest outside and related the incident in the House in the post-lunch session.

The House was in disorder soon after it assembled for the day. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar dismissed the four notices moved by MPs under Rule 267 for discussion on Shah's remarks.

Sanjay Singh (AAP), Randeep Surjewala (Congress) and John Brittas (CPI-M) demanded discussion on the statement made by Shah during the debate on the Constitution on Tuesday.


SP leader Ramji Lal Suman also moved a notice for discussion under Rule 267 on protest by farmers.

The Chairman said that to accept a notice under Rule 267, it should be consensual from both the treasury benches and the Opposition and rejected the notices. As the Opposition resorted to slogans, Dhankhar said, "We can't allow the country to plunge into anarchy." He adjourned the House till 2 pm.

When the House met again, Deputy Chairman Harivansh's report on the Opposition notice for moving a no-trust motion was tabled by the secretary general. With permission of the Chair, Konyak related her version of the incident that took place outside. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju demanded an apology from Gandhi. Dhankhar announced that he had received a complaint from Konyak in his chamber. "She was literally in tears," he said. As T Siva (DMK) tried to argue that this is one version of what happened, Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day.