'Blot on Democracy': Rahul Gandhi Writes to Speaker, Claims 'Deliberate Attempt' to Prevent Him From Speaking

New Delhi: After being prevented from reading out excerpts from ex-Army chief General MM Naravane's unpublished book, for the second consecutive day, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla saying that it is a “deliberate attempt” to prevent him from speaking as the LoP in the House on matters related to national security.

Rahul Gandhi stated in the letter that a Member who wishes to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents. Once this requirement is fulfilled, the Speaker allows the Member to quote or refer to the document, he said. 

“Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also 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. It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President's Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament,” the letter stated, underlining that he wanted to draw the attention of the House on a matter concerning "national security."

Describing this episode as a “blot on democracy”, Rahul Gandhi said, “The refusal of these basic democratic rights has led to an unprecedented situation. For the first time in Parliamentary history, on the behest of the government, the Speaker has been forced to prevent the Leader of the Opposition from speaking on the President's Address.”

Suspension of Opposition MPs

Earlier in the day eight Opposition MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session owing to the uproar in the Lok Sabha and for throwing papers towards the Chair. Theses included senior leaders Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Kiran Kumar Reddy, Prashant Padole, S. Venkatesan and Dean Kuriakose.

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi tried to read out excerpts from Naravane's unpublished book, but was prevented from speaking. Opposition MPs, in solidarity with Rahul Gandhi, protested in the Lower House, and some of them even refused to speak when asked to. 

The Showdown on Tuesday

Rahul Gandhi mentioned that he has “authenticated the article” while starting off with his speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. "A very important matter in the President's speech is national security and the relationship between us and the Chinese and Pakistanis. A very important matter in the article, which I have authenticated. This speaks about the Prime Minister," the LoP said.

“Our President's address was about the path India has to take. Today. On the world stage, the main issue in international affairs is the conflict between China and the US. This is central to our President's address. All I am saying is let me make a statement about what happened between China and India and how our PM reacted to it. Why am I being stopped?” Rahul Gandhi said as he tried to draw attention to the conflicts with China and Pakistan. 

However, at that moment, Krishna Prasad Tenneti who was at the Chair asked Rahul Gandhi to restrict himself to the President's speech. Following this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asked Rahul Gandhi not to quote the memoir, saying that Speaker Om Birla had already given his ruling against it.

"I requested Venugopal ji that we are patiently waiting to listen to LoP. Yesterday, the Chair gave a ruling on the paper he had authenticated that was tabled in the House. But, when a ruling was given yesterday, he can't quote the same matter again. Please continue your speech, but avoid referring to the matter that has been settled," Rijiju said.

However, Congress MP KC Venugopal objected to this statement, saying that Rijiju was misleading the House.

What Happened on Monday

On Monday, the Parliament had also witnessed a heated confrontation, when Rahul Gandhi started quoting from General Naravane's memoir. The LoP had even taken a dig at the Centre asking why it was "so scared" of its content.

Rahul Gandhi's reply was interrupted by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who said that he cannot quote from an unpublished book, which was not authenticated.

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