New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday (December 5) demanded that Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla take action against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Sambit Patra for using ‘derogatory’ language against leader of opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi after the saffron party MPs accused Gandhi of derailing parliament.
“A most unfortunate incident happened in the Lok Sabha when the entire opposition was raising the issue of the travel ban on the leader of the opposition to Sambhal, the speaker allowed Dubey to speak in zero hour. During the zero hour, he used the most defamatory words against the LoP, Wayanad MP [Priyanka Gandhi] and the entire Congress party, said Congress MP and party general secretary K.C. Venugopal outside the House.
He continued: “This is not at all acceptable. This type of derogatory remarks have never been used. We are totally pained.
“Before that, the speaker was talking about customs and conventions of parliament and the Lok Sabha and was giving advice on how to deal with matters and how to come to the House. After ten minutes, the speaker also allowed Dubey to speak in a derogatory manner. From the day Rahul Gandhi stood against the corruption of Adani, agents of Adani started to abuse Rahul Gandhi.”
Deputy leader of the Congress, Gaurav Gogoi, said to reporters that the party had met Birla demanding an apology from Dubey.
“The sad thing is that just a while ago, the speaker was teaching us a lesson on decorum, which was picked up and thrown away by the BJP MP [Dubey]. We have met the speaker and demanded that the MP should apologise, take back his words and the speaker should take strict action in this matter,” said Gogoi.
Dubey’s remarks came during the zero hour in the Lok Sabha, when opposition members made demands to discuss the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal and Rahul Gandhi’s not being allowed to travel there on Wednesday.
Birla then allowed Dubey to speak and said that members of the opposition could speak about Sambhal after him.
In his speech, Dubey alleged that the Congress and Gandhi, in collusion with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigative media organisation and George Soros were trying to derail parliament and the Modi government.
Dubey said: “It is the job of opposition parties to constantly devise various strategies on how to derail the government. They are consumed by hatred, and with the help of foreign funding, are deeply involved in derailment against Modi ji and the government. A French media organisation, Mediapart, released a report stating that there is an organisation called the OCCRP, supported by the Soros Foundation, which is funded by the US government. The OCCRP’s work is to derail the Indian parliament, to not allow it to function.
“And how does Soros derail the world economy? In 1991, George Soros disrupted the Bank of England, causing it to derail, and made a profit of $6 billion. Today, he aims to derail India’s economy. Any report made by the OCCRP is immediately tweeted by the Congress party,” said Dubey.
He then alleged that the Congress had sought to derail parliament on various reports published by the OCCRP, including on the Pegasus spyware, Indian-developed vaccines and their efficacy against COVID-19, Hindenburg’s reports, and on coal mines.
While opposition benches erupted in protest, Birla adjourned the House.
When the House met again in the afternoon, it only functioned for a few minutes before being adjourned for the day.
On Thursday evening, Congress MP Manickam Tagore also wrote to Birla asking him to take action against Patra for using “highly slanderous language against the leader of opposition”.
In his letter to Birla, Tagore said that during a media interaction, Patra had shown “inappropriate and disrespectful behaviour”.
“Such behaviour not only tarnishes the image of the esteemed parliament but also insults the dignity of a high constitutional office. As a custodian of the parliament I urge you to take immediate and stringent action against Sambit Patra,” Tagore said in his letter.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Patra referred to the Mediapart report and said that “a dangerous triangle was trying to destabilise India”.
“In this triangle, on one side it is George Soros from America, some agencies in America, on the other side is a big news portal named the OCCRP. The last and the most important side of the triangle is Rahul Gandhi. Traitor of the highest order.
“I am not scared to use these words. Because I am an Indian. As my party has taught me, for me nation is first, party next and self last. I don’t have any hesitation to call the LoP Lok Sabha a traitor,” said Patra.
In the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi had also alleged a nexus between the Congress, OCCRP and Soros to derail Indian parliament.
Earlier on Thursday, Congress MPs protested in the parliament premises wearing jackets that read: “Modi Adani ek hai” (Modi and Adani are one). They also marched in the parliament premises demanding an investigation into the bribery allegations against the Adani group in the US.
