'Liar has become the LoP': BJP's N Ramchander Rao hits out at Rahul Gandhi

Hyderabad (Telangana): Bharatiya Janata Party Telangana on Wednesday slammed Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi for claiming that he was allegedly prevented from speaking in Parliament. Speaking to ANI, the Telangana BJP President claimed that it is Rahul Gandhi's habit to make false claims, blame India's democracy, and insult the Indian armed forces. " It has become Rahul Gandhi's habit to make false claims that he is not being allowed to speak and also blame our democracy, and also insult our Armed forces. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is following in Rahul Gandhi's footsteps," said Rao.

The state BJP President further claimed that Gandhi has forgotten his duty to raise public issues in the parliament. "As LoP, he has forgotten his duty to raise public issues. People see him insulting the Armed forces and the nation, yet he says he is not being allowed to speak. Such an unfortunate situation, where a liar has become the LoP," added Rao. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Speaker Om Birla, raising concerns over being prevented from speaking on matters of national security during the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.

In his letter, he stated that he had followed parliamentary convention by authenticating a document he intended to cite, but despite fulfilling this requirement, he was not permitted to quote it in the lower house.

"Yesterday, while speaking on the Motion on the President's Address, you directed me to authenticate a magazine that I intended to refer to. I authenticated the document while resuming my speech today. By long-standing convention, including repeated rulings of past Speakers, a Member who wishes to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents. Once this requirement is fulfilled, the Speaker allows the Member to quote or refer to the document. Thereafter, it becomes the responsibility of the Government to respond, and the role of the Chair stands concluded," the letter read.

He further alleged that being blocked from speaking in the Lok Sabha violated parliamentary convention and raised concerns that there was a deliberate attempt to stop him, stating, "Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security. It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President's Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament."

Rahul Gandhi said in his letter that it is the Speaker's constitutional duty to protect the rights of all Members, including the Opposition, and condemned the unprecedented denial of his right to speak on the

President's Address as a "blot on our democracy". Meanwhile, Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the latter was "too afraid" to let him speak in Parliament about former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane's unpublished memoir and the Epstein files. He said that the Prime Minister was "compromised" and under "extreme pressure".

"PM Modi is Compromised. PM is too afraid to let me speak in Parliament about Naravane, Epstein Files and how he has surrendered on Tariffs," Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, posted on X.