In an apparent reference to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Speaker Om Birla said on Tuesday it was not right to raise questions on the decisions of the Chair outside the House even as Opposition members, including Congress, DMK and NCP, walked out of the House claiming they were not allowed to ask supplementary questions during the Question Hour.
The Speaker’s comments in the House came a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he was not allowed supplementary to a question on the willful defaulting banks in the country.
The Opposition members who were supported by Rahul sought to ask supplementary when Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai was replying to a question related to official language. Rai was replying to a question as what was being done to make Hindi a national language.
As the Speaker took up the next question during the Question Hour, DMK leader T R Baalu vociferously protested that they should be allowed to ask supplementary questions.
Amid the din, Congress leader Rahul intervened by standing up and saying that it was an issue at the heart of the people of Tamil Nadu and that supplementaries should be allowed.
He was referring to issues regarding official language.
With the Speaker continuing with the next question, members from various Opposition parties, including DMK, Congress and NCP walked out from the House.
Some Congress leaders were also seen talking to TMC leader Sudip Bandhoypadhya but the party’s members remained in their seats.
Earlier , when the House took up a question related to cold storage for fish, where many supplementaries were asked stretching to a good 20 minutes when Speaker moved on with the next question. Speaker had, at the beginning, sought members to ask short questions so that maximum questions could be answered by the ministers. He has also been asking ministers to reply in brief.
“If one question takes around 15-20 minutes... And then saying supplementary questions are not being allowed after 12 (noon) is not good,” Birla said. He also said that raising questions against the decision of the Chair outside the House is not right.