New Delhi: The three-day (Aug. 8 to 10) No-Confidence Motion began with heated scenes in Lok Sabha this morning with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi opening the debate.

Gogoi said the opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) was forced to bring the no-confidence motion against the Government to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vow of silence” on Manipur. He alleged that a Government which talks about “one India has created two Manipurs — one living in the hills and the other in the valley.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi’s name as lead speaker was withdrawn in the last minute. Congress sources had earlier said Rahul Gandhi, freshly reinstated in Parliament, would open the debate.

Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to address the Lok Sabha, marking his first appearance since the revocation of his disqualification. He is poised to challenge the BJP and the Prime Minister regarding the Manipur issue.

However, the BJP has also put forward Smriti Irani and Scindia to launch a pointed counter-attack against the Wayanad Congress MP.

The Home Minister is scheduled to intervene on Aug. 9 to provide an assessment of the ground situation while PM’s response is expected on Aug. 10.

“Leave the House immediately”: House Chairman suspends Derek O’Brien for unruly conduct and ‘theatrics’

Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien has been suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the Monsoon Session for “unruly behaviour and disregarding the directions of the Chair”, House Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar announced today.

The TMC leader sought to speak under the pretext of raising a point of order and when the chairman asked him to point to the rule he was wanting to speak on, O’Brien said 267 — the rule under which the opposition has been seeking a discussion on the Manipur issue since the start of the Monsoon session on July 20.

The Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal thereafter moved a motion for suspending the Trinamool leader for the rest of the Monsoon session.

Dhankhar said Derek O’Brien has been suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon session, which ends on August 11.

“Leave the House immediately,”  Dhankhar told the Trinamool MP.