NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha proceedings were again washed out on Tuesday while eight Opposition MPs were suspended for “unruly behaviour” after Rahul Gandhi was, for the second day in a row, not allowed to quote an article that cited an unpublished “memoir” of former Army Chief MM Naravane on the 2020 India-China standoff in Doklam.
Rahul, Leader of the Opposition, later wrote to Speaker Om Birla, lodging his protest. “I have authenticated the article on China… why is the government scared of this book?” he said, shouting when the Chair asked other speakers to participate in the motion of thanks on the President’s address. “You can’t stop the Leader of the Opposition from speaking,” he said.
Rahul said as a convention, including repeated rulings of past Speakers, a member wishing to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents, which he did.
Opposition MPs, some of whom refused to speak when asked to, in solidarity with Rahul, protested, leading to adjournment of the lower house for the day. The drama culminated in the suspension of the eight Opposition MPs, including seven from the Congress and one from the CPM, for the remainder of the Budget session after they threw pieces of papers at the Chair. The suspended MPs, included Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurjeet Singh Aujla (Punjab); Manickam Tagore, Hibi Eden, Kiran Kumar Reddy, Prashant Padole, Dean Kuriakose and CPM’s S Venkatesan. They later protested outside Parliament’s main entrance and were joined by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The suspension happened when Rahul refused to yield and repeatedly tried to refer to “excerpts” from General Naravane’s unpublished book, which have appeared in a magazine. Several Opposition MPs, mainly from the Congress, tore papers and threw them at the Chair when TDP MP Krishna Prasad Tenneti was adjudicating the proceedings in the Lok Sabha.
In his letter to Birla, Rahul said, “Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha… gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security. This is a blot on democracy. It’s worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President’s address, which requires a discussion in Parliament.”
With Rahul insisting on raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, TDP MP Tenneti, who was chairing the proceedings, moved on to other speakers and asked Harish Balayogi of the TDP, an NDA constituent, to speak on the President’s address after three opposition MPs refused to speak, showing solidarity with Rahul.
However, amid chaos and vociferous protests, during which papers were torn and thrown at the Chair, Tenneti adjourned the House. When the House reconvened at 3 pm, BJP MP Dilip Saikia, who was on the Chair, read out the names of the eight MPs. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju then moved a motion to suspend them for the remainder of the Budget session. After it was passed by voice vote, the House was adjourned for the day. Pieces of paper were again thrown at the Chair just seconds prior to the final adjournment.
Later, BJP MP Anurag Thakur slammed Rahul for having “insulted democracy and Parliament”. “He had only one intention… to insult Indian soldiers. That is the only agenda the Congress is left with. After a fantastic Budget was presented (on Sunday), the Opposition was left with nothing else to say. And so, pieces of paper were torn and thrown at the Chair,” Anurag said.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament minutes after the chaos inside, Rahul accused the ruling BJP of trying to “silence” him as he tried to speak on the India-China border issue. “Modiji is rattled… The India-US trade deal stalled for the past few months… was signed last night (but) there is extreme pressure on him… our PM is compromised. Public needs to think about this. Modiji sold your hard work… sold the country. He is scared because those who shaped his image are breaking it,” he said.