The Lok Sabha witnessed fresh disruptions on Tuesday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi authenticated a copy of an article citing former Army chief M M Naravane’s unpublished ‘memoir’, triggering a renewed confrontation with the ruling BJP and forcing the Chair to adjourn proceedings.
The confrontation led to heated exchanges, strong objections from BJP MPs, and protests by Congress members, who later tore papers and hurled them towards the Speaker’s chair.
The standoff unfolded as Gandhi began speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and sought to revive a matter on which the Chair had already given a ruling on Monday.
“I have authenticated it,” Gandhi told the House, referring to the article.
Under parliamentary rules, a member authenticates a document by submitting a signed copy affirming its correctness to the best of his knowledge.
Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the proceedings, asked Gandhi to table the document and said, “We will examine it and get back.”
As Gandhi insisted on referring to the article, citing national security concerns, the impasse continued, prompting Tenneti to adjourn the House till 3 pm.
DISPUTE OVER ‘PERMISSION’ AND ARTICLE REFERENCE
Raising the issue at the start of his address, Rahul Gandhi questioned the manner in which he was being restrained.
“I am objecting to the word permission. I’m not given permission by anyone; I am the leader of the opposition,” he told the Chair.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju responded, “Everyone speaks with permission, whoever he is. Nobody speaks without permission from the Speaker.”
“A very important matter in the President’s speech is national security. Our relationship between the Pakistanis, the Chinese, and us. There is a very important point in this article that I have authenticated. It speaks about the Prime Minister’s reaction,” he said.
BJP members objected strongly to the reference, prompting repeated interruptions.
CHAIR CITES PREVIOUS RULING
Referring to the events of the previous day, the Chair told Rahul Gandhi to confine his remarks to the President’s address.
“As I said yesterday, in the President’s speech the matter is national security, the relationship between us, Chinese and Pakistani. This is quoted in this article. I have authenticated it,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The Chair replied, “Please table it. We will examine and get back to you. I am requesting the Leader of the Opposition to speak on the President’s address.”
Kiren Rijiju added, “Yesterday, the Chair gave a ruling. When a ruling has already been given, he cannot refer to the same matter.”
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal accused the minister of misleading the House, saying, “He called me and Gaurav Gogoi.”
The Chair intervened, saying, “What you just said, what is this ‘yaar’? You cannot say this to the Chair. You have been given to speak on the President’s speech.”
‘WHY AM I BEING STOPPED?’
Rahul Gandhi insisted that he was not speaking on any unrelated subject.
“Speaker, sir, this is not the permission I have been given. I am the Leader of the Opposition of this country. You are not permitting to speak,” he said.
He went on to link the President’s address to global developments.
“Our President’s address is about the path India has to start, the direction in which India has to move. Today, the main issue in international affairs is the conflict between China and the United States. This is central to our President’s address and our Budget. If I want to make a statement about what happened between India and China, why am I being stopped?”
Referring to Eastern Ladakh, he added, “There was a conflict. Our soldiers were killed.”
Amid continued disruptions, the Chair called the next member to speak, saying, “I made repeated requests to speak on the President’s address.”
PAPERS THROWN, CONGRESS PROTESTS
As the Chair moved on, Congress MPs protested, tore papers, and threw them towards the Speaker’s chair, escalating the disorder in the House.
The incident forced repeated adjournments and stalled legislative business for a considerable period.
‘WHY AM I NOT BEING ALLOWED TO SPEAK?’
After Tuesday’s adjournment, Gandhi accused the government of deliberately silencing him.
“For the first time in history, the Leader of the Opposition was not allowed to speak on the President’s address,” he said.
He added, “The government is not allowing me to speak. Modi ji is rattled.”
Gandhi also linked the controversy to a recently concluded trade deal between India and the US.
“We need to understand why the trade deal, which was stuck for four months, was suddenly finalised last evening. There is huge pressure on Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
He alleged that farmers had suffered due to the agreement.
“Indian farmers must understand that Prime Minister Modi has sold out their hard work through this trade deal,” he said.
RAHUL’S ATTACK OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
After walking out of the House, Rahul Gandhi addressed the media and launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a recent trade deal.
“PM Modi is nervous. The trade deal that had been stalled for four months, nothing has changed. What I know and what Modi knows, Modi got that deal signed yesterday evening. Modi is under immense pressure,” he said.
He added, “The image bubble that was created for Modi, built with thousands of crores of rupees, could burst.”
Claiming that the Prime Minister had been compromised, Rahul Gandhi said, “The main issue is that our Prime Minister has been compromised. Who did it and how it was done is something the people of India need to think about.”
“For the first time in India, the Leader of the Opposition is not being allowed to speak during the President’s address,” he alleged.
On the trade agreement, he said, “In this trade deal, Narendra Modi has sold off your hard work and your blood and sweat.”
‘PRIME MINISTER IS UNDER PRESSURE’
Addressing reporters, Gandhi launched a sharp personal attack on the Prime Minister.
“Modi ji is rattled. The trade deal, which was stalled for the past few months, was signed by Narendra Modi last night. There is extreme pressure on him. Narendra Modi ji’s image can get damaged,” he said.
“The main thing is that our Prime Minister is compromised. The public needs to think about this,” he added.
Claiming that political and legal issues were weighing on the Prime Minister, Gandhi said, “There is a case on Adani ji in the US, it is actually a case on Modi ji. The Epstein Files contain even more that the US has not yet released. There is pressure due to that as well. These are the two pressure points.”
He further alleged, “Narendra Modi ji has sold your hard work in this trade deal because he is compromised. He has sold the country.”
RIJIJU DEFENDS CHAIR’S ACTION
Reacting to the controversy, Kiren Rijiju said Rahul Gandhi had attempted to quote from an unpublished memoir of a former Army chief, which was not permitted under parliamentary rules.
“We have just told the Congress leaders that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi ji can continue his speech, but the things that the former Army Chief did not say, which are not true or for which there is no permission under the rules, they should not stubbornly try to force such statements, because of which the chance of other party MPs is also getting ruined,” Rijiju said.
