Congress V-P accuses Speaker of muzzling Opp voice, rushes into Well of lS
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi displayed an uncharacteristic outburst on Wednesday by trooping into the Well of the lok Sabha demanding urgent discussion on the communal situation in the country, inviting strong reaction from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who hit back saying such “contrived aggression” stemmed from fear of a “palace coup.”
Mostly seen to be in a laid-back mode in the lower House, Rahul was suddenly in the forefront as his party MPs and members of other Opposition parties created uproar in the lok Sabha demanding urgent discussion on the communal situation in the country by suspending Question Hour.
later, speaking to reporters, Rahul said: “There is a mood in Parliament that only one man’s voice counts for anything in this country. We are not being allowed to speak in Parliament. We are asking for discussion. There is a mentality in the Government that discussion is not acceptable. Everybody feels it, their party feels it, we feel it.”
Rahul pointed a finger at the conduct of lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. “We are raising a point, we are asking for discussion... The Speaker, I mean...It is completely one-sided, partiality. That’s what we are raising,” Gandhi said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley described Rahul’s outburst as a “contrived aggression,” which was in reaction to the “palace coup” the party leadership was facing from within. Jaitley’s comment came against the backdrop of demands from some Congressmen urging Priyanka Gandhi to play an active role in the party. But Jaitley parried questions whether he was referring to Rahul.
“It’s an internal compulsion within the party. For that, you need not drag the House or Presiding officer into the debate,” he said. The Minister said if Rahul Gandhi wanted to show as doing something, it would be better if he led his own party rather than develop a contrived aggression against functioning of the House which otherwise has been functioning well.
“The Congress party has today alleged that they are not being allowed to speak in the House. The Congress has participated in every discussion, at times they have disturbed the House. There is not a single instance where they are not being allowed to raise issues,” he said. “The question, therefore is, why has the party made an issue out of this non-issueIJ The reason is very clear to me, a section of the leadership of the Congress party, because of its inability to lead, has been under pressure,” he told reporters
Jaitley also had a dig at Rahul saying his charge was surprising because “some leaders don’t speak at all in the House and then say we are not allowed to speak”. lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected Rahul Gandhi’s charge of bias, saying she gave opportunities to speak to all members and parties but she could not help it if some people still levelled allegations against her.
When asked about senior Congress leaders like Rahul rushing into the Well of the lok Sabha to protest the alleged bias, she shot back that she was also a “senior” parliamentarian and strove hard to do her work with “integrity”. Mahajan, however, refused to make a direct comment on the issue but stressed that records speak for themselves and that she was doing her job “honestly”.
“I ask you if you will go merely by the allegation somebody levels. You (media) are also witnessing the functioning of Parliament... You are the fourth pillar (of democracy) and you can analyse records and see how many members, which parties were allowed to raise supplementary questions,” she told newspersons outside Parliament.
As the House assembled for the day, Congress pressed for suspending the Question Hour to take up the motion. Rahul joined his party colleagues in slogan shouting in the Well against the Government after he was seen having some discussion with his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, while opposing the motion, said there was no communal tension in the country. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan assured the Congress members that they could raise the issue during Zero Hour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House during the din. During the Zero Hour, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge made a strong pitch for taking up the matter through an adjournment motion, saying there were several such precedents. Attacking the Government, Kharge said, “Since this Government has come to power, communal riots are spreading everywhere. Who is behind itIJ That has to be discussed.”
This triggered vociferous protests from BJP members. Kharge was immediately supported by Tariq Anwar (NCP), but the Parliamentary Affairs Minister dismissed it as a baseless allegation. Congress, RJD, SP, RSP and AAP members were in the Well raising slogans like “we want justice” and shouting “Pradhan Mantri kahan gaye, bhag gaye, bhag gaye (where is the Prime MinisterIJ Has run away, run away).”
The Speaker asked Kharge to specify where such incidents have taken place, to which the Congress leader said “at many places”. Immediately, Naidu got up to term it as “a sweeping allegation and I condemn it. The country is safe and secure under the leadership of Narendra Modi.”
hen Mahajan asked Congress members to give a notice which could be taken up at the next meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, Kharge said, “We have given two notices --- one under Rule 193 (special discussion) and the other an adjournment motion. You can straight away convert the motion into a special discussion.”
The notice for adjournment motion was given by Kharge, Congress whip KC Venugopal and E Ahamed of IUMl. When the Speaker insisted that the matter could be decided by the BAC, Kharge said, “This is partiality. If you can convert a calling attention motion into a special discussion, then why can’t you do so for adjournment motionIJ It is not correct. This is injustice. We want justice.”
As Opposition members continued slogan-shouting in the Well, the Speaker asked other members to raise issues of public importance in the Zero Hour, amid the din. Naidu disapproved of the allegations levelled by the Opposition against the Speaker, saying such actions were only “pressure tactics”.