Amit Shah says ready for student issue debate from 3 pm today to 3 pm tomorrow, ball in Opposition court

In rare outside-of-Parliament remarks on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah appealed to the Opposition to come forward for a debate on student issues and let him respond to the same under parliamentary rules and conventions.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament amid persisting Lok Sabha disruptions into the fourth week of the Monsoon Session, Shah said he was willing to start the debate from 3 PM today to 3 PM tomorrow and answer every single detail.

Shah said the Opposition should write to the Speaker to start the debate at 3 PM and he is ready.

"I want to tell the Opposition that they submit a letter to the Speaker by 2 PM, we will start the discussion at 3 PM, and I will provide answers to everything by 3 PM tomorrow. There are established rules and procedures for parliamentary discussions. Yet, some people are asking me to simply make a statement. Such a serious issue cannot be discussed in that manner,” Shah said.

He said this may be the method of the Opposition, but it is not the parliamentary way.

“In Parliament, discussions are held at length. I am ready for the debate to continue from 3 PM today. We will be sitting late into the night and continuing until 3 PM tomorrow; I am even prepared to suspend the Question Hour tomorrow if the Speaker grants permission. I am ready for the discussion to go on until 3 PM tomorrow. I will sit through it myself, take notes on everything, and respond to every point so that the entire matter becomes clear to the people of the country—so that the truth is fully revealed. Now, the Opposition must decide whether they want to engage in a discussion or create an uproar,” Shah said, putting the ball in the court of the Congress-led Opposition, which has been demanding that the PM make a statement on Ram Mandir theft too.