NEW DELHI: Uproarious scenes in the Lok Sabha over the Opposition’s ongoing protests against Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to speak led to another washout of proceedings of the House on Wednesday. The disruption forced the postponement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled response to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
Notably, Rahul had been trying to quote excerpts from former Army Chief MM Naravane’s memoirs and attacking the Centre for alleged “indecisiveness” during the 2020 Doklam standoff.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey reading out from a series of books inside the House despite Speaker Om Birla’s ruling barring members from doing so, especially after Rahul was disallowed to read excerpts from Naravane’s memoirs, added to the drama.
There were several adjournments since morning, including the one just before 5 pm when the House reconvened for the Prime Minister’s reply. As soon as the Lok Sabha reassembled at 5 pm and shortly before Modi was expected to speak, some women MPs from the Opposition, including Varsha Gaikwad and Jyotimani, blocked the seats of ruling party members, including Modi’s chair. They held a large banner reading “Do what is right”, protesting the Tuesday’s suspension of eight Opposition MPs and Rahul not being allowed to speak in the House.
BJP MP Sandhya Rai, who was chairing the proceedings, adjourned the House for the day within 20 seconds, even as BJP lawmaker PP Chaudhary was in the middle of his speech during the Motion of Thanks discussion. The women MPs ended their blockade only after several ministers urged them to move away.
Earlier, when the House reassembled at noon after the first adjournment at 11.05 am, Opposition members raised slogans against the government over the Doklam issue. Even as Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal read out a statement on the India-US trade deal, Opposition MPs created an uproar with several of them rushing into the well of the House holding banners and posters, forcing an adjournment till 2 pm.
When the proceedings resumed, protests continued with the Congress, TMC, DMK and other INDIA bloc MPs carrying life-size banners reading “Do whatever you find suitable!”, targeting the Centre over the Doklam standoff.
Amid the uproar, TDP MP Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the session, allowed Dubey to speak. As Dubey began referring to books he had brought to the House and started making allegations against the Nehru-Gandhi family, Tenneti warned him not to do so, citing the Speaker’s earlier ruling barring Rahul from quoting the memoirs. The House was adjourned till 5 pm, but not before some Opposition MPs climbed onto the Secretary General’s table and threw papers at him.
Soon after the House reassembled at 5 pm, it was adjourned till Thursday (February 5) amid continued disruptions, especially after Congress MPs Gaikwad, Jyotimani and others stood near Modi’s seat and refused to move despite attempts by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to persuade them. The adjournment postponed Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks.
Earlier in the morning, Rahul Gandhi had called former colleague Ravneet Singh Bittu his “traitor friend”, prompting the Union minister to respond with a “desh ke dushman” jibe. The exchange took place outside Parliament’s main entrance as Bittu was entering the complex.
Bittu, a three-time MP from Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib, is currently serving as Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries. He joined the BJP from the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In the midst of the drama inside the House, Rahul showed a copy of former Naravane’s memoirs to mediapersons outside Parliament. He said he would personally hand over a copy of the book to the PM.
“I don’t think the PM will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today. Because if he does, I will give him this book myself so that he can read it and the country can finally know the truth,” he said.
Appealing to the youth across the nation, the Congress leader urged them to read the memoir. “This is Mr Naravane’s book. He has given a full account of Ladakh in it. I have been told I cannot quote from the book. But the key line is what the PM said: ‘Jo uchit samjho wo karo’ (Do what you think is right).”