In a sign of stepped-up confrontation with the government, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on March 13 wrote to Speaker Om Birla to demand that the remarks made by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi against Rahul Gandhi be expunged from the records.
The Congress leader, along with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) T.R. Baalu, also walked out of a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) that usually allocates business for the week.
As soon as Lok Sabha proceedings started, Mr. Singh, who is the Deputy Leader of the House, mentioned Mr. Gandhi’s comments made in London, where he [Mr. Gandhi] had talked about “structures of democracy under attack”, and sought an apology from the Congress leader.
Mr. Joshi then questioned the state of democracy “when fundamental rights were trampled during the Emergency or when an ordinance duly approved by the Union Cabinet was torn,” referring to Mr. Gandhi tearing a piece of paper to show his disapproval of an ordinance passed by Congress-led UPA government.
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In a letter to the Speaker, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha said that during the Question Hour, “The remarks made by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs were not in good taste and were unparliamentary”.
He cited Rule 352, which provides that a member, while speaking, shall not make a personal reference by way of levelling an allegation, imputing a motive to or questioning the bona fide of any other member of the House.
“Rule 353 also states that no allegation of a defamatory or incriminating nature shall be made unless the member has given adequate notice to the speaker. Moreover, 357 provides that the Speaker shall allow a member to make a personal explanation if something has been alleged against him. Today, both the ministers made unsubstantiated remarks against our leader without a prior notice and no opportunity was accorded to the members of his party to refute the allegations,” Mr. Chowdhury explained.
Speaking to reporters about skipping the BAC meeting chaired by Mr. Birla, the Congress leader said attending it made little sense as the government had come prepared to stall the House after making its points.
“This is a well-organised policy where the government puts forward its views, stalls proceedings and [does] not allow the Opposition to have its say. What’s the point of discussing how much time should be allocated for what business when our fundamental rights and privileges are not being honoured?” Mr. Chowdhury asked.
