Kharge, Chowdhury not allowing Parliament to run: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi, Aug 3 : Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Thursday accused Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leaders of Congress in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively, of not allowing Parliament to function since the beginning of the Monsoon session.

"Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Mallikarjun Kharge have not allowed the Houses to run since the Parliament session began," Joshi told reporters on the Parliament premises, in an apparent reference to the logjam over the Manipur issue.

Joshi claimed that when the current session got underway, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and he had urged the two leaders to allow the Parliament function, but their efforts went in vain.

Notably, the BJP-led government at the Centre has been charging the Opposition with politicising the Manipur issue and running away from a discussion on it.

The Opposition, which is being spearheaded by the Congress, has been demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement on the issue in Parliament.

Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur on May 3 and since then hundreds of people have lost their lives and thousands forced to take refuge in the relief camps.

std/shb