The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed sharp exchanges between the Opposition and the government over the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party protest, with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav taking on both the ruling party and Speaker Om Birla while demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the House on the issue.
The confrontation unfolded after Opposition MPs, dressed in black to observe a "Black Day", protested against the alleged use of force on students and parliamentarians during the July 20 demonstration.
Proceedings were briefly adjourned soon after the House met at 11 am and, when it reconvened at noon, the heated face-off resumed.
Leading the Opposition's attack, Congress MP KC Venugopal accused the Centre of being insensitive towards students and reiterated the Opposition's demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
"Our demand is clear. The Education Minister should resign," Venugopal said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju responded that the government had repeatedly expressed its willingness to discuss the NEET issue but maintained that such a debate should take place under the prescribed parliamentary rules after consultations among political parties.
"We have been saying this for the last three days. We are ready for discussion on NEET. But the discussion has to happen under some rules. I request that all party leaders should be consulted and a specific time decided," Rijiju said.
The sharpest intervention, however, came from Akhilesh, who accused the Chair of allowing only the Congress and the government to speak while denying other Opposition parties an opportunity.
"This is not an issue concerning the BJP, the Congress or the Samajwadi Party. This is an issue concerning students. You allowed him (KC Venugopal) and him (Kiren Rijiju) to speak. Have you reached some kind of understanding between them," Yadav said, asking why he had not been allowed to speak after Venugopal and Rijiju.
Escalating his attack, Yadav alleged that students protesting on the streets had been brutally assaulted.
"If students are not heard, they will naturally take to the streets. As for the Education Minister's resignation, we can secure it whenever we want -- even outside this House," he said.
"But the real question is: what happened to the students? Their hands were broken, their heads were injured and their clothes were torn. Will you even tear the clothes of our daughters," the Samajwadi Party chief asked in a stern tone.
Defending the Opposition's march towards the Prime Minister's residence, Yadav said it became necessary because the Speaker refused to pay heed in Parliament.
"Honourable Speaker, we were compelled to march towards the Prime Minister's residence. Had you heard us in the House, we would not have gone there," he said.
Yadav also questioned why the Prime Minister could speak about the concerns of the youth outside Parliament but was not willing to make a statement in the House.
As sloganeering continued, Speaker Om Birla said there was broad agreement across parties that the issue should be discussed and reiterated that the government was prepared for a debate.
"Everyone has expressed their views. All of you want a discussion, and the government is ready for one. Come together and decide when the discussion should be held and how much time should be allotted. The government is prepared. But a discussion cannot take place amid sloganeering," Birla said before adjourning the House till 2 pm.