Rahul Gandhi’s claim of Opposition reaching understanding with Om Birla not true: Kiren Rijiju

Rijiju said that to ensure that the House runs, the Speaker had a meeting with the Opposition leaders including LoP Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader K C Venugopal, where he was also present.

New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said in the Lok Sabha that Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the Opposition has reached an understanding with Speaker Om Birla is not entirely true. He said that the Speaker has asked Gandhi to submit the nature of his speech beforehand, and then a decision will be taken.

Rijiju was responding after the Chairperson at the moment, Sandhya Ray, got into an argument with the Congress. After she allowed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to speak, he yielded his time to LoP Rahul Gandhi. The Chair, however, did not allow him to speak, insisting he speak on the Budhet only.

Rijiju said that to ensure that the House runs, the Speaker had a meeting with the Opposition leaders including LoP Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader K C Venugopal, where Rijiju was also present.

“What Rahul Gandhi has said is not 100 per cent correct … The Speaker said that to allow the House to run we must come to an agreeable decision. The Congress wants the LoP to be allowed to speak, but if he raises questions on the intent of the Speaker then that will have to be discussed before,” Rijiju said.

He also said that the Speaker has not committed entirely. “The Speaker wants all the parties to be able to speak,” Rijiju said.

Outside the Parliament, Rijiju said that by announcing that they will bring a no-confidence motion in Parliament, the Congress has “insulted” the institution of the Speaker.

“They climbed the table of the Secretary General and the table officer, and stormed the office of the Speaker. We could have asked them to take stronger action but we left it to the Speaker’s decision,” he said.