Amid the uproar in the Lok Sabha when Congress claimed that Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak, party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said it is not a democracy where the leader of the opposition is not allowed to present his views.
Speaking to the media, Priyanka asserted that it is “ridiculous” that Rahul Gandhi has not been allowed to speak even for a minute.
Priyanka Gandhi said, “It is very sad that we go to the House (Lok Sabha) and just come out. The leader of the opposition is not allowed to speak even for a minute. This is ridiculous. This is not democracy. Why do we come here? He should be allowed to speak.”
The incident occurred when the House resumed after multiple adjournments in protest against Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to speak by the opposition.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that Speaker Om Birla had assured him that he would be allowed to present his views.
Priyanka Gandhi said in the lower house, “An hour ago a member of the House had gone to the Speaker. The Speaker had assured us that before the discussion on the budget, I would be allowed to speak here and raise some issues. Now you are going back on your promise. So I want to know whether I am allowed to raise those issues or not?”
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju strongly criticized the opposition for regularly causing disruption in the House.
Additionally, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at Lok Sabha Speaker Birla over his remarks urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to prevent any untoward incident as she had received information that some Congress MPs could “carry out an unprecedented incident” by visiting the Prime Minister’s seat in the House.
Priyanka, while defending the MPs, emphasized that women MPs cannot raise their hands on the Prime Minister.
The Congress MP said, “I have said earlier also that the Speaker has been insulted and there is so much pressure on him that he himself has to give a statement. Women MPs cannot raise their hands on the Prime Minister. There are 11 Congress MPs including me and all are very serious. This statement is completely wrong and has been given under the pressure of the government. The Prime Minister did not have the courage to come to the House, so the Speaker had to give such a statement on his behalf, which is wrong.”
This morning, women MPs from the Indian National Congress wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that the ruling party forced them to make “false, baseless and defamatory” claims against them.
The MPs said their protest in the House was peaceful and in line with parliamentary norms, but they were targeted in an unprecedented manner.
In the letter, the MPs highlighted that opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly denied the opportunity to speak for four consecutive days during the motion of thanks on the President’s address, while a BJP MP was allowed to make “obscene and indecent” remarks about former prime ministers.
The MPs further claimed that when they met the Speaker to demand action against the BJP MP, he admitted a “serious mistake” but later indicated that they were waiting for the government’s response, suggesting that they no longer act independently in such matters.
