40-50 opposition MPs had barged into Speaker's chamber before PM's scheduled speech in Parliament: Kiren Rijiju

Patna: Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, on Saturday said that "40-50 opposition MPs" had stormed the chamber of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and spoken "in a nasty way" ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled speech in the House.

Rijiju, who was addressing a press conference at the BJP's Bihar headquarters, also said that he was present inside Birla's chamber when the exchange took place and a decision was, therefore, taken that it would be better if the PM did not come to the House.

"We are in power and have sufficient numerical strength. We could have muscled our way through the proceedings by making use of marshals. But we did not want to do that. And therefore, we found a way around the problem," said the minister when he was asked about Modi's much talked about absence in the debate on Motion of Thanks to President's address, which was supposed to conclude after the PM's speech.

Rijiju pointed out that the PM did speak at length in the Rajya Sabha.

"We took a different decision in Lok Sabha after 40-50 opposition MPs barged into the Speaker's chamber and spoke nastily. I was present there. We realised that they were itching to create trouble and it would be better if the Prime Minister stayed away," he added.