Rajnath Singh to make a statement on LAC issues in Rajya Sabha today

NEW DELHI: Government has conveyed to floor leaders of various political parties in the Rajya Sabha that defence minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement on the India-China standoff and the subsequent developments on Thursday. No discussion will be held “considering the sensitivity of the issue”.
The Narendra Modi government reached out to the floor leaders on Wednesday and held an informal meeting lasting 90 minutes in Parliament annexe. Sources said while the government emphasised on the need to pass important pending legislations including bills on the ordinances issued since March, the opposition wanted discussions on the current issues.

Other than the defence minister, commerce minister Piyush Goyal, leader of the Rajya Sabha Thawar Chand Gehlot and parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, his juniors Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan represented the government. Leader of the opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh (Congress), Derek O’Brien (Trinamool), K Keshav Rao (TRS), E Kareem (CPM), Manoj Jha (RJD) were among the opposition leaders present in the meeting.

Sources said government underlined that Singh “will make a statement on the LAC issue and members can seek some clarifications as is customary in the Rajya Sabha, but no resolution or short-duration discussion will take place as the issue involves India’s security”. All parties agreed to the proposal, the sources added.

The opposition insisted there should be discussions on the state of the economy, GST compensation to states, the New Education Policy and the Environment Impact Assessment issue. Some parties maintained bills related to agriculture and the banking regulation (amendment) bill should be sent to either the department-related standing committee or a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.