New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday admonished leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and asked him to conduct himself according to the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House.
While Birla did not give any reason for his censure of Rahul, BJP later released an undated video in which the LoP was seen affectionately cupping the cheeks of his sister and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during House proceedings.
Rahul, however, later claimed that he was not being given a chance to speak in the House which, he claimed, was being run in a “non-democratic style”, and Birla had made “unsubstantiated” remarks about him.
The video clip showed Rahul walking through the aisle, turning to Priyanka and cupping her face, while his party colleague Manickam Tagore was speaking. Rahul was present in Lok Sabha on Wednesday after being absent for a few days.
Birla probably had this incident in mind while rebuking Rahul. “In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the leader of opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House,” the speaker said, adding that MPs should conduct themselves in a manner that upheld the high standards and dignity of the House.
Rahul was present in the House and wanted to speak on some issue but Birla adjourned proceedings for the lunch break after making his point. Some members in the House were heard asking “kya hua” (what happened), wondering the reason for the speaker’s comments.
Later, about 70 Congress MPs, including deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, general secretary K C Venugopal and party’s whip in LS Manickam Tagore met the speaker and raised the “denial” of opportunity to Rahul to speak.
Outside the House, Rahul told reporters, “The speaker just got up and left. He did not allow me to speak a word. He was speaking about me, and I don’t know what he said about me, all unsubstantiated. I said ‘let me speak as you have spoken about me’, but he did not say a word and just left. He adjourned the House when there was no need for it.”
He added, “There is a convention that leader of opposition is allowed to speak, (but) whenever I rise to speak, I am not allowed. So, I fail to understand the manner in which the House is being run. We are not allowed to make our submissions.”
He further said, “For the past 7-8 days, I am not allowed to speak. So, this is a new method… opposition and the govt have their own space in democracy but here, there is no space for opposition, there is space for govt only and that day, the prime minister was speaking about Kumbh Mela. I wanted to express my view point that it was something praiseworthy and I wanted to say something about unemployment as well but I was not allowed to speak. The fact remains that we are not allowed to speak and our’s is the main opposition party, I am the leader of opposition, this way the House is being run in a totally non-democratic style.”
