Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday criticized the Lok Sabha Speaker for allegedly not allowing the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak in Parliament and described it as “dangerous time for democracy”.
Speaking to ANI, Raut said, “Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. If such a leader is not allowed to speak inside Parliament by the speaker, then it is a dangerous time for democracy. If you want to silence the opposition then why are you running Parliament?”
Emphasizing the role of opposition in democracy, he said, “Opposition is the voice of democracy. If you suppress that voice, one day you will shut down the Parliament.”
This response came in the Lok Sabha after the allegation made by Leader of Opposition Gandhi on Wednesday in which he alleged that he was not allowed to speak in the House.
The Leader of the Opposition claimed that it was a “baseless comment” about him and it is a tradition that the Leader of the Opposition is allowed to speak only when he stands to speak.
Rahul Gandhi told reporters, “I don’t know what is happening. I requested him to let me speak. This is not the way to run the House. The president has just gone and he did not let me speak. He did some baseless things about me. Sitting quietly. “
He said that there is a place for the government and the opposition in democracy, but here “there is no place for the opposition”.
Rahul Gandhi said that he wanted to speak on Mahakumbh Mela and unemployment, but was not allowed to speak. He said, “The Prime Minister spoke on the Mahakumbh and I also wanted to talk on the Mahakumbh Mela. I wanted to say that Kumbh Mela was very good. I wanted to speak on unemployment but I was not allowed it.”
He said, “I don’t know what the president’s approach and thinking is, but the truth is that we were not allowed.”
