New Delhi

Opposition MPs staged a walkout on Wednesday from the Rajya Sabha after a heated altercation between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence during the proceedings.

Opposition MPs led by Kharge demanded that the Prime Minister come to the Upper House and brief them on Operation Sindoor as he did on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha.

Kharge said that PM Modi should have come to the House, as many of the Opposition's questions were directly related to him.

"It was already the demand of the members of this House that, after a 16-hour-long discussion, the Prime Minister should come here and present his views, especially since many of our questions are directly related to him. I am not saying that you (Amit Shah) are not capable of responding, but if the Prime Minister is present and still doesn't come to this House, then it is an insult to the House. It is not right to insult the House," the Rajya Sabha LoP said.

Replying to this, Deputy Chairman of the House, Harivansh said, "Mr. Kharge, I would like to inform you that I have already explained that any minister from the government side can respond, this is the ruling. You cannot force anyone."

Reacting to this, Amit Shah said that Mallikarjun Kharge is raising this point, who is not allowed by his own party to speak on important matters.

"Mr. Kharge is raising this issue, even though his own party (Congress) doesn't allow him to speak on important matters," Shah said.

The Rajya Sabha LoP again stood up and said to the Deputy Chairman, "You interrupt on every point."

The Opposition MPs then staged a walkout from the House.

Targeting them, Amit Shah said that the opposition members simply cannot stand to listen to this debate, as they were unable to stop terrorism for so many years.

"The opposition's demand is not justified because in the Business Advisory Committee meeting, it was decided that the discussion can go on as long as you want, but it is up to the government to decide who will respond," Shah said.

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"I know why they are leaving, because for so many years, in the name of protecting their vote bank, they did nothing to stop terrorism. They simply cannot stand to listen to this debate," he added.