NEW DELHI: Govt Monday agreed to a debate in Parliament on the recent student protest and home minister Amit Shah’s statement on the issue, but it failed to break the impasse as Congress insisted that all its demands, including PM Modi’s apology for alleged police excesses against protesters and a statement on embezzlement of Ram temple funds, be met.“Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been demanding a statement from Shah from day one (of Parliament’s monsoon session). Govt is ready to hold a discussion and give a detailed response. I request Congress not to walk out during his (Shah’s) statement. It should not be scared and run away,” parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said.The opposition, however, persisted with its protests, leading Rijiju to accuse Rahul of shifting goalposts. The leader of the opposition said all the issues raised by Congress are “non-negotiable” .Ready to discuss every issue inside the House, says Nadda“It appears that his intention is to prevent the House from functioning. Rahul Gandhi, do not run away from discussion. We are prepared to discuss every issue inside the House,” Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J P Nadda said after Rahul was joined by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in rejecting govt’s proposal. Nadda also denied that police had fired at protesters on July 20.Marred by opposition protests since the session began on July 20, except for an animated debate on the NEET paper leak and related issues, LS again faced a couple of adjournments Monday before Rijiju conveyed govt’s proposal.Rijiju had put forth govt’s stand earlier at a meeting of floor leaders of different parties chaired by Speaker Om Birla, and some opposition MPs saw in it a bid to divide their ranks, as the minister made no commitment to the demand of a discussion on the theft of donations at Ram temple, a demand primarily taken by Samajwadi Party.The opposition has, however, so far not laid out the sequence in which they wanted the issues to be discussed. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the breach of faith of crores of devotees was not a normal issue and it must be discussed.Speaking to reporters later, both Kharge and Rahul said Shah must make a statement in Parliament on who authorised the “brutality” on students. Rahul said the country was not interested in Shah’s “fantasy conversations” on general issues but wanted to know specifically if he ordered the shooting of pellet guns and use of nail-studded lathis on students.
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“Shah should come clean… We are seeking his resignation,” he said.All three demands are non-negotiable, Kharge stressed, suggesting the stand-off is unlikely to end in days to come as monsoon session ends Aug 13.In a counter presser, Nadda accused Rahul of misleading people by making a baseless allegation that shots were fired at student protesters during their march to Parliament on July 20. “Rahul has been disrupting the House for over 15 days by speaking lies and spreading confusion. His intention is not to engage in discussion but to stoke anarchy,” the health minister claimed.Shah is willing to reply to every claim if Congress allows the House to function, he said, adding that the party has a history of running away from debates, recalling that it had sought a discussion on SIR but walked out during govt’s reply.
