Conversion row disrupts House, Opposition taunts PM Modi for his silence

"You don't need a 56-inch chest to come here, you just need a four-inch heart to come here," said Derek O'Brien.

Rajya Sabha

The conversion row rocked both houses of the Parliament again on Monday with the opposition protesting against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on the issue. The opposition taunted the PM for his absence saying he doesn’t need 56-inch chest to come here.

“You don’t need a 56-inch chest to come here, you just need a four-inch heart to come here,” said Trinamool leader Derek O’Brien, referencing the PM’s famous campaign.

“We are not running away from a discussion. We want a discussion on the issue of conversion. We want the PM to come to the house,” said Derek in the Rajya Sabha.

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Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Agarwal said he has submitted a notice to suspend all work and take up the debate.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, said that the notice cannot be admitted since the issue has already been raised once.
“…the debate is inadmissible since the debate has been taken up once,” said Jaitley.

Members had slammed the government for not fulfilling its promises but going ahead with the ‘Ghar Wapsi’ agenda.
“They promised they will give farmer one and a half times returns for their input cost, they promised bringing back black money, and creating jobs. None of this was done but they are going ahead with reconversions,” said SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.

He was joined by other members, including Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav and Left leader Sitaram Yechury.

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Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said: “We are not running away from a discussion. We want a discussion on the issue of conversion. We want the PM to come to the house”.

Congress leader Anand Sharma, meanwhile, said: “Opposition is not running away from a debate, it is the prime minister, who is shying away resulting in the deadlock.”

Opposition members then trooped near the chairman’s podium, displaying placards and shouting slogans.
As protests continued, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house for the day.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2.20 p.m. Monday following a protest by opposition leaders on the issue of religious conversions.

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Soon after Congress member K.C. Venugopal raised the issue during zero hour quoting an incident from Kerala, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venakiah Naidu responded by saying that the government was nowhere involved in it.

Amid the din, the house was adjourned till 2.20 p.m.