Rahul Gandhi not allowed to continue speech in Lok Sabha; 8 MPs suspended

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was on Tuesday not allowed to continue his speech on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha following his repeated references to India’s troubles with China, triggering a protest that ended in the suspension of eight MPs – seven from Congress and one from CPI(M) – who climbed atop a table and threw papers at the Chair.

Attempts by Speaker Om Birla to end the stalemate through a meeting of government and Opposition during the day did not end in success as both sides stuck to their stand on Rahul referring to an article quoting former Army Chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished memoirs, which was disallowed by the Chair on Monday citing rules and led to disruptions.

The Lower House Lok Sabha could not have any substantial business, as it was initially adjourned over the Opposition protest on trade deal with the United States and later ones involving Rahul’s speech and the protest of MPs following the unprecedented stopping of a LoP’s speech during which lawmakers climbing a table in front of the Chair and threw papers.

Congress’ Manickam Tagore, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Prashant Padole, C Kiran Kumar Reddy and Gurjeet Singh Aujla and CPI(M)’s Su Venkatesan were suspended for the remaining period of the Budget Session ending on April 2 after a resolution moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was passed by a voice vote.

Indicating that the Opposition is ready for a “full-blown confrontation”, Rahul led a protest outside Parliament House, soon after the House was adjourned. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reply to the debate on Wednesday evening. 

Rahul told reporters that Modi is “compromised” and he is “too afraid” to let him speak in Parliament “about Naravane, Epstein Files and how he has surrendered on tariffs”. Rijiju said they have conveyed to the Congress that Rahul could resume his speech but should not refer to the book and because of his actions, other MPs are losing opportunities.

As he was called to speak at 2 PM, Rahul said he “authenticated” a copy of an article, which cited Gen MM Naravane's 'memoir' and said the President' speech was related to India's relationship with China and Pakistan and the article quoted reactions of the Prime Minister. Rijiju said the Speaker has passed a ruling on the matter and after that Rahul should not raise it repeatedly.

Rahul said the President's Address was about the path India has to chart and the main issue in international affairs is the conflict with the US and China. "This is central to the President's Address and the Budget and I want to make a statement about what happened, how the PM reacted to it..." he said.

Tenneti said the LoP was repeatedly referring to issues which were disallowed by the Speaker and then went on to call Samajwadi Party's Naresh Uttam Patel, Trinamool Congress' Shatabdi Roy and DMK's DM Kathir Anand but they refused to speak.

TDP's GM Balayogi was then called and as he started speaking, the Opposition MPs rushed to the Well of the House with eight of them climbing the table near the Secretary General and tearing papers and throwing it at the Chair, prompting Tenneti to adjourn the House till 3 pm.

When the House reassembled, BJP MP Dilip Saikia, who was chairing the proceedings, named the eight lawmakers following which the House adopted a resolution moved by Rijiju.