Motion of Thanks Passed in Lok Sabha Without PM’s Reply in a First Since 2004

New Delhi: For the first time since 2004, the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address was passed in the Lok Sabha without a reply by the prime minister as the stand-off between the opposition and the Treasury benches, over former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s unpublished book, continued in parliament.

The motion was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (February 5) by a voice vote in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh amid uproar by the opposition benches

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that he had advised the prime minister not to come to the House on Wednesday as Congress’ women MPs had gathered near his seat and that any untoward incident could have taken place. The opposition on the other hand has accused the prime minister of being too scared to come to the House and deliver his reply.

While the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in 2004 was passed on June 10, 2004 without a reply by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, due to BJP’s protests against inclusion of allegedly tainted ministers in the cabinet, this is the first time that the prime minister was not present in the House.  This is also the first time that the Motion of Thanks has been passed in the Lok Sabha without both the prime minister and the leader of opposition speaking during the discussion and only three MPs speaking during the debate.

The uproar started during Gandhi’s speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, which was disrupted by the treasury benches on Monday, following which Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla barred him from referring to Naravane's book citing Rule 349. On Tuesday, Gandhi authenticated the book but was stopped from making his speech and eight MPs were suspended. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi’s speech, scheduled for 5 pm, was cancelled amid protests from opposition MPs who were seen standing with banners and placards in the well.

Birla informed the House on Thursday that he had advised Modi not to come as he had received information that women Congress MPs had gathered around the Prime Minister’s chair and any untoward incident could have taken place.

“With great pain I have to inform the House that the way in which some members behaved in the Speaker's chamber, it has never happened before. In our parliamentary democracy, the Speaker's position is delineated in the Constitution and political differences have not been brought to the House. Opposition members' behaviour in the Speaker's chamber was a black spot,” he said. 

Opposition members went to the Speaker’s office on Wednesday after an uproar in the House when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey displayed a number of books alleging corruption by the Gandhi family. He referred to among others a book titled Edwina and Nehru and said it details Nehru’s “aiyashi” (debauchery) when India was being partitioned. Opposition members raised protests as Gandhi’s speech was stopped due to its references to Naravane’s unpublished book published in an article by The Caravan.

Birla did not make any mention of why the opposition members had gone to his office, or that Dubey had defied Birla’s own rule 349 ruling against Gandhi referring to the books in the House. Birla then said that following the opposition members' visit to his chamber, he received information that women members of the Congress had gathered around Modi’s seat and he had then advised the prime minister not to come to the House.

“After this when the Prime Minister was supposed to speak, I received information that Congress MPs  had gathered around his seat and any untoward incident could have happened. If this took place it would have torn apart the country's democratic structure. That is why I advised him not to come to the House and he heeded to my advice and stayed away from this unpleasant scene,” said Birla.

“The country has seen how the women MPs reached the prime minister's chair. This was not necessary and was against the dignity of parliament.”

Outside parliament, Congress MP and the party’s general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said that "there was no question" of anybody raising any hand on the prime minister, and Modi was “hiding behind the Speaker” because “he did not have the guts” to come to the House.

“The women MPs were standing in front of the Treasury bench. So what? Absolute lie. There is no question of anybody raising any hand on the prime minister or trying to hurt him. It is absolutely wrong of anybody to say there was any such plan. There was no such plan,” she said. 

“But if you are going to allow your members to quote books and talk nonsense then this side will protest. Now the prime minister is hiding behind the Speaker. Yesterday, the Prime Minister did not have the guts to come to the House because three women were standing before the bench.”

Vadra said that there was no basis for the government from stopping the LoP to quote a publicly available source, as it did not want any discussion. “Why is the government not allowing the LoP to speak? Do they have any basis to stop him from quoting a public source? They do not. There is no discussion because the government does not want to discuss anything. That is a fact,” she said.

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