Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 17: Amidst Congress charges that the audio was muted in parliament to silence voices of protest against the government, the BJP sources said the ruling party would not allow Rahul Gandhi to speak in Parliament before submitting an unconditional apology for his alleged “anti-India” remarks in London.
While brushing aside the Congress complaint of muted mike to have caused by “technical fault,” the BJP members continued to raise slogans in the House leading to the adjournment of both houses of Parliament for the fifth consecutive day on Friday.
The government denied that the audio muting was intentional. “It was a technical fault, not done by intention. Everyday slogan shouting is being telecast during the interruption,” sources said. The Congress had earlier tweeted visuals of the chaos in parliament
Sources in the BJP said they won’t let Congress MP Rahul Gandhi speak in the house unless he apologises for his remarks on Indian democracy in London and went to the extent of asking for terminating his Parliament membership. Both houses of the parliament were adjourned again on Friday amid loud sloganeering from the BJP, which is demanding Congress MP Rahul Gandhi apologise for his remarks at Cambridge University, and opposition parties demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenberg row.
Audio of the proceedings were muted while chaos ensued inside the parliament. Congress, repeating Rahul Gandhi’s charge that microphones of opposition leaders were muted in Parliament, took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Earlier, the mic used to be turned off, today even the proceedings of the House were muted. The house is mute for PM Modi’s friend,” the grand-old-party tweeted in Hindi.
Rahul Gandhi was seen in the Lok Sabha for the second time on Friday since the row erupted over his comments, but the house was adjourned till next week before any business could be transacted. Mr Gandhi has said he wanted to respond to allegations against him inside the house, but the BJP is adamant that he apologises first.
Calling Mr Gandhi’s remark “egregious and gravely offensive”, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Mr Gandhi should apologise outside before seeking recourse in the parliament. “Rahul has made an egregious & gravely offensive remark against our sovereignty by demanding foreign intervention on foreign soil. If he is serious about Parliament he should have apologised immediately outside before seeking recourse in Parliament, he tweeted.
Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, demanding an unconditional apology from him, said, “He does not know that the House is run by procedures, and policies. I had also brought the booklet of rules for him. If he attended the parliament, he would understand. He does not read, and rarely comes to the parliament. Telling one lie after another has become his habit. You lied, and tried to show that you are bigger than the parliament, bigger than the country. He should apologise unconditionally,” Mr Thakur said.
Several BJP ministers have slammed Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of spreading lies and maligning India’s image abroad. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has called for forming a special committee to look into his statements which would help ending Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership.
BJP National President JP Nadda on Friday accused Rahul Gandhi of having become a “permanent part of the anti-nationalist toolkit and said, “it was unfortunate that the Congress party is indulging in anti-national activities after being repeatedly rejected by the nation.” He also asked what Mr Gandhi’s intention was when he “demand the intervention of another country in the internal matters of India.”
In retaliation, the Congress MP KC Venugopal filed a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of targeting the Gandhis during his speech in Rajya Sabha last month. PM Modi had, in the speech, questioned why the Gandhis had not opted for the surname “Nehru”.
“The very suggestion by the Prime Minister…is preposterous by its very nature. Prime Minister knew very well that the surname of the father is not taken by the daughter. Despite knowing that, he deliberately mocked (sic),” said Mr Venugopal’s privilege notice, alleging that the tone and tenor of the remark was “insulting and derogatory.” The notice came after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey sought the termination of Rahul Gandhi’s membership from Lok Sabha over his comments in the UK.
Parliament has not functioned since the Budget Session resumed on Monday, with the BJP launching an offensive against Rahul Gandhi. Several Union Ministers, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, have slammed the Congress MP over his comments and have accused him of insulting the nation.
Rahul Gandhi had alleged in London that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a “full-scale assault” on the country’s institutions.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi reportedly made Delhi Police wait for hours when they went to hand over a notice to the Wayand MP seeking information on the sexual harassment victims that he mentioned in his speech during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir this January.
”On March 15, a team of Delhi Police team waited for three hours to give notice to Rahul Gandhi on his statement made in Srinagar regarding an alleged sexual assault with women. Even after waiting for three hours, Rahul Gandhi did not meet the police team,” sources said.
“Senior officers of the Delhi Police again visited his residence on March 16 to give notice to him which was personally received by him after one-and-a-half hours,” they added. On Wednesday, Delhi Police issued a notice to the Congress leader asking him to share details about the victims of sexual harassment whom he mentioned in his speech in January this year in Srinagar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Delhi Police took cognizance of the social media posts and sent a questionnaire. Referring to his experiences during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and to the problems faced by women, Mr Gandhi had spoken of a girl coming to him and talking about the atrocities faced by her. “In one particular case, I asked a girl, she had been raped, I asked her should we call the police, she said that don’t call the police then I will be shamed,” Mr Gandhi had said, according to police.