New Delhi: A day after Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan asked Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju to “echo the sentiments” of the opposition who have been asking for Union home minister Amit Shah’s presence in the parliament, Rijiju said today (August 7) that the chair had not issued any such direction.

In the Rajya Sabha – amid the opposition’s repeated pleas for Shah’s presence, and references to the chair’s remarks on Thursday – Rijiju rose to say that the Rajya Sabha chair had not given any direction and the opposition cannot dictate which minister should come to the House.

“No direction was given by the chair. I want to say on record that during the parliament session, the home minister stays in parliament from morning to late night. Opposition will not decide which minister will come. This is an attempt to mislead the country. I want to clarify that the chair had made an observation, there was no direction to come to the House,” said Rijiju.

"You raise slogans and leave the House but the home minister stays in parliament from morning till late night. When the home minister will reply you will not be able to listen. You only want to raise slogans, I condemn this.”

While Rijiju has said that Shah comes to parliament everyday, he is yet to attend a sitting in either House in this session that began on July 20. Images of Shah coming to the parliament premises have been posted on X by ANI.

On Thursday, Radhakrishnan had asked Rijiju to “echo the sentiments” of the opposition to Shah. 

“I request you to consider his [Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s] request for the home minister to come to the house. As a parliamentary affairs minister you can echo the sentiments of the opposition to the home minister,” Radhakrishnan had said.

As the Rajya Sabha was subsequently adjourned for the day, Rijiju also went to the Lok Sabha and said that Shah comes to parliament every day and his name itself makes terrorists shiver.

"Home minister Amit Shah comes to parliament in the morning and goes back late at night. He stays in parliament all day. It is wrong to raise slogans. Amit Shah is that person, whose name makes all terrorists shiver,” said Rijiju. 

“When he will come to the House you will not be able to hear his reply. Rules say that only the minister whose business is there comes to the House. The opposition cannot decide who will come to the House. You should stop this drama.”

The opposition has been demanding Shah’s statement on the police action unleashed on peaceful protesters who had responded to the Cockroach Janta Party’s Sansad Chalo march on July 20, as well as the police action in other parts of the country subsequently. While former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been forced to resign, neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Shah have given any statement in the house.

After proceedings were adjourned for the day in both Houses, Rijiju said to reporters outside parliament that the Rajya Sabha chairman’s remarks were “misinterpreted”.

“I have said the same inside the House. Which minister speaks, when they speak, and on which subject is decided by the House with the approval of the chairman. Under collective responsibility, it is not for the opposition to decide which minister should speak on a particular issue. Therefore, the chairman's directions should not be misinterpreted,” he said. 

“I want to reiterate that when home minister Amit Shah speaks, the opposition will have to sit quietly and listen. If they instead walk out, they will have to apologise for the disruptions they have been creating for so many days.”

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