Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address, the government versus opposition battle over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fiery attack continued well into the second day of the ongoing Parliament session. Parts of the leader of opposition’s speech, including his remarks on religion and Agnipath scheme, were expunged from records even as many NDA leaders demanded that all of it should be removed.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, wrote to Speaker Om Birla over parts of his speech being expunged, requesting that they should be restored. “…Shocked to note the manner in which considerable portions of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction… Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy…” he wrote in his letter, adding that such selective erasures defy logic.
In his letter, the Congress MP further alleged that Birla was biased towards BJP MP Anurag Thakur, whose speech he said was full of allegations but only one word was removed. Gandhi’s claims were backed by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, who said: “The letter is with the Speaker. We think that the Speaker will act upon it.”
Venugopal also raised the matter of expunction and that Thakur’s speech was treated differently from Gandhi’s. But, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said: “If opposition feels someone from our side has said something, they can issue notice. They are free to issue notice if they feel something is not as per the rules.”
In the Lok Sabha, Venugopal launched into another similar attack and said he is challenging the prime minister to inquire about the electoral bonds, which he alleged was “one of the biggest scams”. “… Delhi Airport roof collapsed, Jabalpur Airport roof collapse, Rajkot Airport canopy collapse, conditions of roads in Ayodhya is bad, leakage in Ram Mandir, cracks in Mumbai Harbour link road, three new bridges collapsed in Bihar, Pragati maidan tunnel submerged, all these constructions during the NDA period have collapsed. Under their rule, every building is under the threat of collapsing… I am challenging the Prime Minister to inquire about the electoral bonds… One of the biggest scams the country ever saw is the electoral bond scam… ” he said in his reply to the Lok Sabha debate.
Later, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj moved a notice under Direction 115 in Lok Sabha over Gandhi’s speech. “LoP Rahul Gandhi made several inaccurate statements in his speech yesterday…” she said.
“The above-mentioned statements made by LoP in the Lok Sabha are factually incorrect and misleading in nature and hence appropriate proceedings ought to be initiated as provided under Rule 115. I, therefore, pray that you kindly take cognizance of the deliberate inaccuracies made by Rahul Gandhi and take necessary action,” the notice read.
But, what exactly did Rahul Gandhi say in his speech that was expunged?
Hours after the expunction took place, Gandhi said truth can be expunged in the world of Modi. “Whatever I had to say, I have said and that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want, but the truth will prevail,” he told reporters in Parliament complex. “Truth can be expunged in the world of Modi ji, but in reality truth cannot be expunged.”
Gandhi’s no-holds-barred attack on the BJP on Monday (July 1) drew massive protests from the treasury benches and a rare intervention from the prime minister, who slammed the Congress leader for his “irresponsible speech” and for calling the entire Hindu community violent. However, parts of his speech that the leaders of the ruling party are not Hindus as they engage in “violence and hate” round the clock, were expunged. His criticism of the central government’s Agnipath scheme for the armed forces and alleged discrimination in paying compensation and pension to Agniveers, was also removed as were some other parts in which he referred to indistrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
There was much uproar in the Lok Sabha as Union home minister and defence minister Rajnath Singh also interrupted Gandhi in retaliation to his comments about Agnipath, as well as farmers and farm laws.
On Gandhi’s ‘not Hindus’ comment, the PM accused him of calling the entire Hindu community violent. “It is a great crime to call all Hindus violent. ‘Hindu samaaj ko hinsak kehna galat hai’,” he said. Shah also sought an apology from Gandhi to the House and the country for hurting the feelings of crores who take pride in identifying as Hindus.
On Agnipath, Rajnath Singh demanded that Gandhi should provide facts about his allegations on Agniveers’ compensation in the case of their death. He countered Gandhi by saying he should not try to mislead the House by making wrong statements, as financial assistance of Rs 1 crore is given to the family of the Agniveer “who sacrifices their life while protecting our borders or during war”.
(With PTI inputs)
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