ISLAMABAD: A fiery Senate session on Tuesday saw heated exchanges and walkouts amid tensions between the PTI and PPP over competing resolutions on the controversial Cholistan canal projeet, with Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar informing the upperhousethatthe government was considering a multiparty consultation to address the issue.

Responding to objections from both the PTI and PPP, Mr Tarar assured that the concerns surrounding the diversion of water for the Cholistan canal scheme would be resolved constitutionally and in consultation with the Sindh government.

He insisted that the PML-Nled federal government had already taken up the issue with allied parties particularly with the PPP and the Sindh government.

He added that on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif`s direction, senior cabinet member and adviser Rana Sanaullah had engaged the Sindh government to resolve the matter amicably, pledging that `nothing will be bulldozed` in this regard.

Taking a jibe at the protesting PTI lawmakers, Mr Tarar accused them of staging `meaningless protests` after being rejected in Sindh, referring to the recent by-election inTharparkar. `This kind of politics serves neither the country nor the cause,` he said.

The session grew disorderly after PTI Senator Saifullah Abro demanded that the Senate take up his party`s resolution on the canal issue. PPP Senator Sherry Rehman insisted her party`s resolution be considered first.

When Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani refused to allow points of order to begin question hour, PTI members protested, chanting slogans and accusing the government of diverting water to Cholistan for a corporate farming initiative.

They gathered near the chairman`s podium in protest.

The altercation turned personal when PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali accused the PPP of hypocrisy, prompting a fiery rebuttal from PPP Senator Shahadat Awan, who referred to PTI founder Imran Khan as a `watch thief` and held up a pen and watch as props to silence his party leadership`s critics.

PPP senators also staged a walkout in protest over the canal project.

`Rubber-stamp parliament` Later, when Law Minister Tarar was addressing the House, Mr Awan pointed out quorum, but a headcount confirmed the session was in order.

The issue returned to the floor as proceedings resumed, with Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz insisting that it was the first session of the new parliamentary year and should have been used for self-accountability over the mistakes made during the previous year.

He said the entire system in Sindh was paralysed and the people were up in the arms over the water issue. He alleged that the PPP`s stance over the issue had remained contradictory and hypocritical, and the party leadership was not supporting the lawmakers expressing concerns over the canal project.

Stressing that the parliament had become a mere rubber stamp, Mr Faraz referred to several pieces of legislation passed recently, including the 26th Amendment.

He noted the continued absence of 11 members from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and warned that the province would have no representation in the Senate by 2027 if elections were not held. He also criticised the delay in implementing the chairman`s production orders for jailed PTI senators and the unresolved SBP Amendment Bill, claiming violations of Articles 59, 60 and 218 of the Constitution.

`This is high time we followed the Constitution, he said, moments before another quorum call led to adjournment. The session will resume on Friday at 11:30am.

Earlier, the Senate observed a one-minute silence in memory of Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday.

PPP seeks CCI meeting Outside the Parliament House,PPPVicePresident Senator Sherry Rehman called for an immediate meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to address the growing water crisis impacting Sindh and other provinces. She asked the government to halt plans for controversial canal projects, which she warned could deepen inter-provincial discord.`For the first time in a hundred years, the Indus River is experiencing record-low flows. When the country is running dry, the government must explain where the water for these new canals will come from,` she told reporters.

Senator Rehman stressed that PPP leadership including Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari and President Asif Ali Zardari had consistently opposed new canal constructions on the Indus without national consensus, calling it a matter of `life and death` for downstream communities.

`Water scarcity is not just Sindh`s problem. It is a national emergency that affects every citizen and livelihood,` she stressed.

`Without water, our agriculture, livestock and economy cannot function.

We are demanding our constitutional and moral right to fair water distribution.

She urged the government to move beyond temporary political settlements and address the core issue through institutional mechanisms. `The issue must be resolved in the CCI, not through backdoor negotiations. We must act now to avoid further damage to national unity.

She highlighted the worsening conditions in drought-hit districts like Badin, Thatta and Sujawal and warned of growing discontent among farmers and local communities.

`If we are pushed to the wall, we will resist peacefully, but firmly. The PPP knows how to stand its ground for the rights of the people. We only know one kind of politics: defending these basic rights.

Senator Rehman also questioned the validity of recent IRSA reports and criticised the lack of transparency in water allocations. `No province`s share can be diverted unilaterally. That`s not cooperative federalism; that`s injustice.

She added: `Let`s resolve this urgently, with seriousness and dialogue not drama. We hope that reason and the Constitution will prevail.