New Delhi: Opposition party members walked out of both Houses of Parliament on Thursday after the government did not accede to their demand for a discussion on the Indian military’s face-off with China in Arunachal Pradesh on December 9.In the Lok Sabha, it was Congress leader Sonia Gandhi who led the opposition members out of the House to protest the government’s refusal to discuss the issue.Before the start of the day’s proceedings in parliament, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge convened a meeting with leaders of various opposition parties to discuss the Tawang faceoff and other issues.Thereafter, the issue of Chinese incursion in Tawang was raised by the opposition members in both Houses.Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, December 14, 2022. Photo: PTIIn the Lok Sabha, as soon as the House assembled, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called for a discussion on the “Indo-China border situation”. He reminded the House that late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had also allowed a discussion in Lok Sabha on the India-China war in 1962.“We have been demanding a discussion on [the] India-China border situation. In 1962, when India-China war took place, Jawaharlal Nehru, in this House, had given 165 MPs a chance to speak, and a decision was taken on what to do only after that,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.However, speaker Om Birla said a decision will be taken on the issue in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee.At this, Sonia Gandhi and Chowdhury led the opposition members out of the House in protest.In RS, opposition seeks clarification on Rajnath Singh’s statementIn the Rajya Sabha too, as soon as the House assembled, the opposition members demanded a discussion on Chinese incursions in the Western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Congress also asked for clarifications from defence minister Rajnath Singh on the matter. The minister issued a statement in the House on Wednesday.Read: Scale of the Recent Chinese Intrusion in Tawang Is a Cause for ConcernThe request for clarification was, however, turned down. Deputy chairman Harivansh stated that the matter was “sensitive” and therefore clarifications could not be allowed. He also noted that there have been several instances in the House in the past when clarifications about sensitive matters were not allowed.This did not go down well with the opposition members and they staged a walkout, saying what was the point in staying in the House when their clarifications were not being answered. Besides, the members of the Congress, members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha also staged a walkout.Later, Kharge termed the situation “not good for the nation”. He said though the opposition repeatedly asked for a debate on the Chinese transgression, the government refused to allow it. “The defence minister left without giving any clarification to the House,” he said. As such, Kharge argued, that there was no point remaining in the House. He added that the Congress stood in solidarity with the country’s armed forces.