Oppn not given time to speak in RS, raised issue with chairman: Cong MP Pramod Tiwari

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Rajya Sabha MPs of the Congress met Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday and shared their concern over opposition leaders not being given time to speak in the House, party leader Pramod Tiwari said.

Tiwari said they have registered their protest with the chairman over Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge not being given time to speak on the floor of the House, while ruling party leaders were given sufficient time.

"Congress MPs went to the chairman's office and we told him that look at how long (JP) Naddaji, and (HD) Deve Gowdaji spoke.... They were given 10-15 minutes to speak, but when the leader of opposition stood up to speak with your permission, he did not even get a minute," Tiwari told reporters outside Parliament.

"We want to raise the issue of Rs 2,300 crore bribe being given by (the) Adani (Group) to people in the (Narendra) Modi government, the riots in Sambhal (in Uttar Pradesh), the situation in Manipur, where we can see a total failure of law and order.... We want to raise the issues of workers and farmers. We are not being allowed. We went to politely register our protest," he said.

Opposition leaders, who have submitted a no-trust motion against Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar, have accused him of being partisan and not giving them enough time on the floor of the House to raise their issues.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament in the morning, Leader of the House J P Nadda accused Kharge and the Congress of not cooperating in the functioning of the Rajya Sabha.

He said Kharge was given enough opportunities to speak in the House, but he refused, while accusing the leader of opposition of not going to the chairman's chamber when called and not participating in the Business Advisory Committee meetings. PTI AO RC