'Requested Speaker Om Birla to let me talk, but he left': LoP Rahul Gandhi

The former Congress president said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday asked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to follow the rules of procedure to uphold the dignity of the House with the Congress leader describing the remark as “unsubstantiated” while saying he is not being given a chance to speak in Parliament that is being run in a “non-democratic style”.

Towards the end of Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Birla said several instances have come to his notice where the conduct of MPs do not conform to the high standards of the House.

“In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House…,” he said.

Rahul wanted to respond to the observations but the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 PM. Around 70 Opposition MPs, including senior MP and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, Congress Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi and party Whip Manickam Tagore, then met the Speaker to protest against not allowing Rahul to speak in the House.

The Speaker did not specify the reason for making the observation addressed to Rahul even as the rightwing social media handles claimed that it was linked to the Congress leader’s show of affection towards his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is also an MP.

Outside Parliament, Rahul said the Speaker made a remark about him and adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak. Priyanka shared a video of Rahul’s remarks to the media on her social media handle.

“The Speaker just got up and left. He did not allow me to speak a word. First, he said something about me…Unsubstantiated. I stood up and 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 said.

Rahul said the convention in Parliament is to allow the Leader of Opposition to speak but whenever he got up to speak he was not allowed.

“In what manner is this House being run? We are not being allowed to say what we want to say. I have not done anything, I was sitting quietly, I did not speak anything. In the last 7-8 days, I have not been allowed to speak. In a democracy, the Opposition has a place and the government has its own space. But here there is no space for the Opposition,” he alleged.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on Maha Kumbh last week, he said he wanted to speak on it but was not allowed. He wanted to state that it was good that Kumbh happened and that he wanted to speak about unemployment.

“I don't know what thinking or approach does the Speaker have but the truth is we are not being allowed to speak. It is being run in a non-democratic style,” he alleged.