Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attempts on Monday to refer to a magazine report based on a manuscript to question the government’s handling of the 2020 China border clash sparked a row in the Lok Sabha, as Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members accused the Congress leader of “misleading” the House. Caravan magazine had published excerpts from the manuscript in its Issue dated January 31.
Singh and Shah argued the manuscript had not been published. “If it is not published, how can it be mentioned?” asked Shah
For over 40 minutes, Gandhi was adamant about reading from the report, amid objections on technical grounds. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla cited Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (349 and 353) and ruled that Gandhi cannot read from the magazine article.
Gandhi began quoting from what he said was the report citing the unpublished “memoir” of former Army chief Gen (retd) M M Naravane, as he rose to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the president’s address. He said he would do so in response to BJP lawmaker Tejasvi Surya’s charges against the Congress on nationalism.
Gandhi argued that the President’s speech was about the current situation, policies, foreign policies, China, Pakistan, and the global situation. “I did not want to refer to this article, but your member [Surya] questioned our nationalism and our character.”
As Birla ruled against any reference to the article, Gandhi, with advice from fellow Congress lawmaker KC Venugopal, said, “You said, I cannot refer to the magazine or the book. I am not referring to the article. There was a border. On the border there were four tanks…”
Before Gandhi could speak further, Shah stopped him and asked, “How did you know there was a tank?” Birla again told Gandhi that he could not refer to the issue.
Both sides referred to the rule book. BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, and Shah pulled out the rule book to argue that Gandhi cannot refer to the matter cited in a magazine. Venugopal repeatedly referred to the book and questioned whether the rules only applied to the opposition.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav backed Gandhi and said he must be allowed to raise the issue about China. “I think LoP [leader of the opposition] must be allowed to speak in China. It is an important issue.”
Venugopal and Gandhi also argued with the Speaker, who reminded the opposition that no questions could be raised on his ruling. The Speaker warned Gandhi that if he was not interested in participating in the debate, the next speaker, Yadav, would be invited to speak. Gandhi did not relent.
As Venugopal repeatedly stood up to defend Gandhi and tried to interpret the rules, the Speaker quipped about whether he was Gandhi’s advocate.
Venugopal replied that the entire opposition is Gandhi’s advocate. Birla retorted that there is no role for advocates in the House. Birla cited a rule that says advance notices are required if anyone wants to cast aspersions on another lawmaker.
Gandhi claimed that Surya had cast aspersions on the Congress and called it anti-national.
Shah defended Surya. “I have heard him carefully. Surya only mentioned that during the [Congress-led] UPA [United Progressive Alliance government] era, the President’s address never mentioned certain words. The subject of the debate is the President’s speech. If Gandhi wants to refute Surya, he should refer to the President’s speeches during the UPA era and show the House if those words were indeed there in the speeches.”
Gandhi hit back, saying the government says it fights against terror, but is afraid of a line in a magazine. “It is about our relationship with China. This is a fundamental explanation of our relationship with China.”
As Gandhi repeatedly defied the Speaker’s rulings, Rijiju said, “We must decide what to do with a member who does not want to follow the ruling. You should be teaching other teachers. You are a five-time member of Parliament.” As the impasse continued, the Speaker adjourned the house until 3pm.
