Can turn off my mic but not 'chhatron ki goonj': Rahul attacks BJP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, July 29, said he raised the issue of atrocities on students in his speech in Parliament and held Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for it, but the BJP did not allow him to speak.

In a post on X, he said the BJP can turn off his microphone in Parliament but not the "chhatron ki goonj" (voice of the students).

"Today, during my speech in Parliament, I raised the issue of the brutality inflicted on students in Delhi and named the one responsible - Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP did not let me speak," he said in his post.

Gandhi said he will say everything at a press conference what he was not allowed to say in the House.

"They can turn off the microphone, but not the 'chhatron ki goonj' (voice of students)," the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex later, Gandhi said, "There can be just two options - the Home Minister gave the order for firing (at protesters), the other is that the Home Minister did not know that there will be firing."

"In the first case, he is culpable. In the second case, he is incompetent, there can be no other option."

"Why is he not coming to the House? Supposedly the brave home minister of India, why is he not in the House? If he has not done anything, why is he not coming? It is my right to speak in Parliament and I should have this right," Gandhi said.