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Amid uproar, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister, rued that the Opposition parties did not trust their Prime Minister and government and said the Opposition could not dictate terms. He said Mr. Jaishankar’s statement was a collective response of the government. When the proceedings resumed at 2 p.m., Congress member P. Chidambaram expressed anguish over the debate amid protests and said that while a “large section of the Opposition is agitated” the Chair must adjourn the House and try to find a solution instead of allowing the business to go on. When the House met again at 3.00 p.m., the scenes of disarray continued. BJP member Bhupendra Yadav pointed out that if the Lok Sabha could be satisfied with the External Affairs Minister’s statement, why not the House of Elders. To this, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Rajya Sabha should not be needlessly compared to the Lok Sabha all the time. There is a reason why there are two Houses and not one. “If this government wants to run Parliament like a department we shall not let it happen. Parliament is not a department of any Ministry that you can run on your whims and fancies. It can be run only as per the established principles and rules,” Mr. Azad said. In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition walked out. Mr. Jaishankar was present when the walkout happened and was in the midst of his statement asserting that no such conversation had taken place between Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump. Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy, however, said that rather than Mr. Jaishankar, whom he called a seasoned diplomat, Mr. Modi himself should respond. Mr. Tewari said that since Mr. Trump’s statement was serious, the clarification should come from the Prime Minister himself. Speaker Om Birla tried to pacify the Opposition members, but they stood their ground and walked out while Mr. Jaishankar was speaking. The Opposition, insisting on Mr. Modi’s reply, assured the government that they would not seek any clarification. A Congress member of the Rajya Sabha said there were multiple meetings between senior Opposition leaders and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. The Opposition got the impression that Mr. Modi might issue a short statement. When it didn’t happen, the Opposition chose to walk out.
