8 Opposition MPs Suspended, Rahul Gandhi Not Allowed to Speak, Attacks Centre on India – US Trade Deal
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 3: Eight opposition members of the Lok Sabha including seven from the Congress and one CPI(M) party, were on Tuesday suspended from the House for the remainder of the current budget session allegedly for creating ruckus after the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who made several attempts to read out from an unpublished book by the former Chief of the Army General MM Naravane was not allowed to speak and the House was adjourned for the day.
Later speaking to media persons outside the House, Mr Gandhi hit out at the Government over the India – US trade deal claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been “compromised.” The Prime Minister has “sold out” the hard work of Indian farmers through the agreement, he alleged.
Chaos consumed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after Mr Gandhi tried, for the second consecutive day, to read out excerpts from General Naravane’s unpublished book, including sections about the 2020 India-China military stand-off at Doklam in Ladakh. Denied permission, opposition MPs – some of whom refused to speak when asked to, in solidarity with Gandhi – protested, eventually leading to the Lok Sabha adjourning for the day. Some opposition members also allegedly threw pieces of papers towards the Speaker Om Birla’s chair.
Following the ruckus eight opposition MPs were suspended for the remainder of the session. Amarinder Raja Warring said, “Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak… even though he had authenticated the document and submitted it to the House. We protested against this and tore up the papers. Is this a crime demanding suspension?”
The suspended members include seven Congress MPs — Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Prasant Padole, Kiren Kumar Reddy, and Manickam Tagore — and CPI(M) leader S Venkatesan.
As soon as the House reassembled at 3 pm, Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, named these 8 members.
“These members were shouting slogans and tearing up papers on the floor of the House, so I am naming them all,” Saikia said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved the resolution to suspend the Opposition members for their “misconduct” and “utter disregard to the House and authority of the chair through reaching the table of the Secretary General and other officers in the Well of the House and throwing papers on the Chair…”
When Parliament resumed on Tuesday morning, the Congress leader raised the issue again, this time confirming he had ‘authenticated’ the information, i.e., signed a statement saying the content is true, to the best of his information, but was still not allowed to read out the excerpts.
“I have authenticated the article on China… now why is the government scared of this book?” Rahul Gandhi asked, shouting, “You can’t stop the Leader of the Opposition from speaking.”
Gandhi claimed he was not being given ‘permission’ to speak as the Speaker then moved on to other MPs, though, in a ‘I’m Spartacus’ moment, two opposition parliamentarians – from the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress – refused to speak as a sign of solidarity.
Later in his trademark white T-shirt and beige slacks, Gandhi criticised the Prime Minister over the lack of clarity surrounding the India – US trade deal. He demanded to know how a complex trade agreement, which had been stuck for several months, was finalised overnight. The Prime Minister, Gandhi said, had “sold out” the Indian farmers, referring to roadblocks over access to the country’s price-sensitive agriculture and dairy markets.
“Modiji is rattled… India-US trade deal stalled for the past few months… was signed last night (but) there is extreme pressure on him… our PM is compromised. Public needs to think about this. Modiji sold your hard work… sold the country. He is scared because those who shaped his image are breaking it…”
“The trade deal that was stuck for four months. Nothing has changed, but for a reason that both Mr Modi and I know of, he signed the deal last evening,” Mr Gandhi said, adding, “There is immense pressure on Narendra Modi ji”. The “balloon” of his image, created with thousands of crores, can burst, he added.
The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha alleged that the Prime Minister is “too afraid” to let him speak “about Naravane, Epstein files and how he has surrendered on tariffs.” He said the LoP was not allowed to speak during a Motion of Thanks on the President’s address for the first time in history.
A day after a major political row erupted in Lok Sabha, Mr Gandhi authenticated a copy of an article in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday which cited General Naravane’s unpublished ‘memoir’ on the 2020 India-China conflict.
Amid protests from the Treasury benches, Mr Gandhi alleged that the memoir accused Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of withholding information on the Chinese aggression along the LAC in 2020. Speaker Om Birla ruled that the discussion must pertain only to the President’s address. Despite repeated attempts to raise the issue citing national security, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
The reason for Gen. Naravane’s book coming in the picture was the reference earlier made by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya who had said the UPA government was soft on terrorism and Naxalism and the President’s speech during that era was a “narrative of excuses.” When a magazine published excerpts of Gen. Naravane’s unpublished book, it came in handy from Mr Gandhi to counter the government.
Claiming that Mr Modi is scared, Mr Gandhi highlighted two “pressure points” — Epstein files and an ongoing case against Gautam Adani in the U.S. “The main thing is that our Prime Minister has been compromised. The people of India will have to think who has done it and why….The farmers of India must understand that in this trade deal, Narendra Modi has sold off your labour and blood and sweat. And that’s because he is compromised now. Not just you (farmers), the entire country has been sold. That’s why I am not being allowed to speak there (inside the House),” Mr Gandhi said.
Further, he said: “Narendra Modi is scared because the people who built his image are now trying to unravel it. When asked about the kind of pressure, Mr Gandhi said: “There is a case against (Gautam) Adani in the United States. They are not targeting Adani but the financial structure of Narendra Modi Ji. That’s one and the other issue is Epstein files. There is more stuff that is there on Epstein Files that the whole country wants to know but the U.S. hasn’t released,” he said.
“And the second issue is the case against Adani is actually is on Modi because that the BJP’s financial structure, Modi Ji’s financial structure. These are the two pressure points,” Mr Gandhi added.
The fourth day of the Budget Session saw no business taken up in the Lower House as LoP Rahul Gandhi sought to raise questions from General Naravane’s unpublished memoir. BJP MP Anurag Thakur slammed Gandhi for having “insulted democracy and Parliament”.
“He had just one intention… to insult Indian soldiers. That is the only agenda the Congress is left with. After a fantastic budget was presented (on Sunday) the opposition was left with nothing else to say. And so, pieces of paper were torn and thrown at the Chair,” Thakur said.
“What can be a bigger misfortune than this? An individual who doesn’t know that permission needs to be obtained from the Speaker or Chairman to speak… look at the arrogance. This is the arrogance of one party and one family. This is the intoxication of power…” The BJP will file a formal complaint asking for strict action against the suspended MPs.
