Both the Houses of Parliament witnessed disruptions on March 13, the first day of the second lap of the Budget session, as the treasury benches adopted an offensive strategy and raised the issue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speeches abroad and demanded an apology from him. The Opposition questioned this and said the government was trying to disrupt the House to avoid a discussion on the Adani stock controversy. After the ruckus, both the Houses were adjourned around 2 p.m. without taking up any business.
As soon as the Lok Sabha convened for the day, after obituary references, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Mr. Gandhi had defamed India in London by saying that democracy in India was in shambles and that foreign powers should save India’s democracy. The Defence Minister said that the former Congress president had tried to “deeply hurt” India’s honour and prestige.
In the Rajya Sabha, soon after an obituary reference and laying of papers, leader of the House and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal raised the matter without naming Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Goyal said an Opposition leader defamed the country, its constitutional institutions, its democracy and the Army in a foreign land. “He makes allegations against the Indian press, Indian judiciary, Indian media, Election Commission and the Indian Army,” Mr. Goyal said demanding an apology to the people of the country and to the House and the Chair.
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Mr. Singh, who is also deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, requested Speaker Om Birla that the House should condemn Mr. Gandhi’s remarks and the Congress leader should be asked to apologise. “I appeal to you for condemnation of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks by this House. You should also direct him to tender an apology in this House for his comments,” he said.
“When an ordinance, which was duly approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and in attendance of Cabinet Ministers like Sharad Pawar and Pranab Mukherjee, was torn apart and described as nonsense, where was democracy at that time,” he asked. Condemning Mr. Gandhi for seeking “the intervention of foreign powers like the U.S. and Europe”, he said: “If he has some shame, he should come to this House and tender an apology. This is our demand”.
When the Congress went into the well of the House protesting over the remarks, Mr. Birla said democracy in India was strong and getting stronger. He asked MPs to let the House function properly.
Earlier as soon as the House convened for the day, BJP MPs started raising slogans seeing an apology from Mr. Gandhi over his remarks. The Opposition hit back shouting slogans on the Adani-Hindenburg issue and demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe it. As the ruckus continued, the House was first adjourned till 2 p.m.
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As Lok Sabha reconvened at 2 p.m., the BJP MPs and those from the Treasury benches raised slogans seeking an apology from Mr. Gandhi over his remarks. Hitting back, the Opposition benches started shouting slogans to demand a JPC probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue. Papers and standing committee reports were tabled in the din before Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, adjourned the House for the day.
Protest in front of Parliament
In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition members questioned Mr. Goyal even as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said everyone had a right to place their views inside the House. Later, Opposition members demonstrated in front of Parliament demanding a probe into Adani stock controversy. Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge condemned Mr. Goyal’s statement. He said it was against the rules to refer speeches of members of Lok Sabha in Rajya Sabha. “The entire world knows what is happening here. When we say that democracy doesn’t function in this country as envisaged in the Constitution, it is being questioned. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in China that there’s no democracy in India,” Mr. Kharge said in the Rajya Sabha.
At 2.00 p.m. when the House re-convened after the lunch break, leader of House Piyush Goyal reiterated the point that he made earlier, referring to remarks made by “Lok Sabha member” and a “senior Congress leader” on foreign soil, demanding an apology for his remarks that “democracy is in danger” in India and pleading for intervention from other countries.
Responding to Mr. Goyal, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge raised a point of order citing 1967 and 1983 rulings by the Rajya Sabha chairman prohibiting members from using freedom of speech to make “make allegations and charges against members of other House”. He demanded that Mr. Goyal’s remarks therefore must be expunged. Mr. Goyal meanwhile argued that he had not named any one and therefore had broken no rule. Mr. Dhankhar reserved his ruling on Mr. Kharge’s point of order. He was forced to adjourn the House, when both sides, continued raising slogans. Members of the Treasury benches were on their feet shouting slogans demanding apology from Mr. Gandhi, while the Opposition members continued with their demand for a JPC probe into the Adani Group’s dealings with the SBI and the LIC.
Speaking to reporters outside the House, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “It is clear, the government doesn’t want a debate, which is why BJP MPs were leading the protest. We will continue with our demand, we want a JPC on the PM-linked Adani maha mega scam, we want a debate on the border situation with China, we want a debate on misuse of investigating agencies,” he said.
