‘Blot on Democracy’: Rahul Gandhi Writes to Speaker on Being Prevented from Speaking on President’s Address

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (February 3) wrote to speaker Om Birla and said that in an “unprecedented” situation, the leader of opposition was prevented from speaking on the President’s address “for the first time in parliament’s history”, calling it a “blot on democracy.” Gandhi in his letter said that at the behest of the government the speaker had been forced to prevent him from speaking, while a “deliberate attempt” was being made to prevent him from speaking on matters of national security.

The letter came hours after Gandhi on Tuesday sought to resume his speech during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. He began by saying that he had authenticated The Caravan article on former army chief general M.M. Naravane’s unpublished memoir, which included excerpts from the book and refers to the Chinese troop movement in 2020.

The attempt to read out excerpts of the book quoted in the article had led to a huge uproar from the Treasury benches on Monday, following which Birla cited Rule 349 to bar him from quoting it. While Gandhi sought to speak without directly quoting the article on Tuesday, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Krishna Prasad Tenneti who was chairing the proceedings, objected and moved on to call the next speaker.

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The House was adjourned till 3 pm as opposition members were seen raising slogans in protest and throwing papers. Eight opposition MPs were suspended after the house reconvened and the proceedings were adjourned for the day.

Gandhi, in his letter to Birla, said that by longstanding parliamentary convention and repeated rulings of past speakers, a member who wishes to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it, and affirm its responsibility following which the speaker allows the member to refer to the document.

“Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security,” wrote Gandhi.

“It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President’s Address, which requires a discussion in parliament,” he added. 

Gandhi said that as the speaker, it is Birla’s responsibility to safeguard the rights of every member, and an unprecedented situation had been created at the “behest of the government” in which for the first time the leader of opposition was prevented from speaking during the President’s address.

“Honourable speaker, as the impartial custodian of the House, it is your constitutional and parliamentary responsibility to safeguard the rights of every member, including those of the opposition. The right of the leader of the opposition and of each member to speak is integral to our democracy,” he said.

“The refusal of these basic democratic rights has led to an unprecedented situation. For the first time in parliamentary history, on the behest of the government, the speaker has been forced to prevent the leader of the opposition from speaking on the President’s Address. This is a blot on our democracy, against which I record my strongest protest,” he added.

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