Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 9: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday amid a stand-off between the government and the opposition over allowing the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak to raise some issues before the House took up the discussions over the union budget.
When the House met again at 2 PM after two earlier adjournments, the issue of Rahul Gandhi be permitted to raise the issues was put up again but Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, refused to yield. Ms Ray had asked Congress member Shashi Tharoor to initiate the debate on budget, but Mr Tharoor said he would not take the call since the LoP wanted to raise the issues and he should be allowed to raise certain points before he starts his speech.
Ms Ray said she had no issues if Mr Gandhi wanted to speak on the Budget and asked him to begin. But Mr Gandhi said at a meeting between Speaker Om Birla and some opposition MPs, an agreement was reached that he would be allowed to raise certain points before the Budget discussion, but the Chair was now reneging on its word.
Ms Ray said she was not aware of any such agreement and that she could not allow anyone to raise any issue without notice.
At this point, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju intervened, saying there was no such agreement and if the LoP wanted to say something about the Speaker then Mr Birla should also be present in the House to respond. Mr Rijiju also said other members of the House would also speak on the subject and there would be a broader discussion.
With neither side budging from its position, Ms Ray adjourned the House for the day. The Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned twice earlier – once at 11 a.m. when the business of the day began and again after a few minutes of proceedings at 12 noon to meet again after the lunch break at 2 PM when the House was finally adjourned for the day.
After the House was adjourned for the day, Mr Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex that Mr Gandhi wanted to respond to allegations that Congress MPs wanted to carry out an “unexpected act” in the Lok Sabha when the prime minister was to come last week to respond to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s January 28 address to both Houses of Parliament.
He said a clarification was required on the part of the LoP. The Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3, after Mr Gandhi was disallowed by the Chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M.M. Naravane’s “unpublished memoir,” which has references to the India-China conflict of 2020.
On February 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks due to opposition protests. In an unprecedented move, the Motion of Thanks was passed on February 5 without the customary reply to the debate by the PM.
Mr Birla had said had said he received concrete information that many Congress MPs could carry out an “unexpected act” by reaching the spot where PM Modi sits and therefore, he asked him not to come to the House to deliver his address for security reasons.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra refuted the Speaker’s claim. “It is an absolute lie. There is no question of anybody raising hands on the prime minister, trying to hurt him or any such thing. There is no question. So, it is absolutely wrong for anybody to say that there was any such plan, there was no such plan,” she had said outside the House.
The discussion on the Budget was listed for February 5 but could not be initiated due to the stand-off between the government and the opposition. The stalemate continued the next day as well. The House met on Monday after the weekend break but the budget discussion has still not begun.
The Opposition parties are learnt to be exploring if they should move a no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker. This was discussed at a meeting of the INDIA bloc convened by the Congress president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in his chamber on Monday morning. The TMC also attended the meeting besides other parties, including the left, DMK, SP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) and RSP.
Speaker Om Birla had suspended eight Opposition MPs, including seven from Congress, during the first week of the Budget session. Last week, the lower House witnessed multiple adjournments and protests from Opposition members who sought a response from the government regarding the India-China conflict in 2020, following the publication of extracts from an unpublished memoir by General Naravane.
Sources said the resolution was being planned under Article 94-C of the Constitution. The notice is being given for moving a resolution against the Speaker for his removal, for disallowing the LoP from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks, for not initiating action against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, for making unsubstantiated charges against women MPs of the Congress and suspension of eight opposition MPs, the sources said.
They said a resolution in this regard would soon be moved in the Lok Sabha and signatures of MPs are being procured. The resolution is likely to have signatures of 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and getting the signatures of various Opposition MPs is under process.
Meanwhile, the police in Delhi have started an investigation into the circulation of a soft copy (in PDF format) of General Naravane’s unpublished autobiography which has been at the centre of the row between Rahul Gandhi and the BJP-led NDA government in Parliament and outside.
A spokesperson said, “Delhi Police took cognizance of information found on various online social media platforms and news forums which claimed that a pre-print copy of the book ‘Four Stars of Destiny’ is being circulated.” The necessary clearance for publication of this book is yet to be received from the relevant authorities, they added.
“Upon verification, it was found that a PDF copy of a type-set book with the same title, and apparently prepared by M/s Penguin Random House India Pvt. Limited, is available on certain websites and, also, some online marketing platforms have displayed the finished book cover as if it is available for purchase,” the spokesperson added.
“In order to carry out a thorough investigation into this purported leak/breach of a yet to be approved publication, a case has been registered with the Special Cell and investigation is being taken up,” they further said.
