Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla over his expunged speech and says that it goes against tenets of parliamentary democracy.
Amid the political slugfest over Rahul Gandhi’s maiden speech in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, several portions of his address have been expunged from the record. These include portions targetting the NDA government, including minorities, NEET row and the Agnipath Scheme. Rahul’s remarks on Hindus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-BJP-RSS and industrialists Adani and Ambani have also been expunged from the records.
Rahul Gandhi’s speech which lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes also stoked controversy, wherein he took a dig at the BJP, stating those who call themselves Hindus are engaged in “violence and hate” round the clock.
Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who intervened twice, at least five cabinet ministers interjected during Gandhi’s speech that lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes, with Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an apology from him.
In his letter to the Speaker Rahul Gandhi expressed shock to note the manner in which considerable portion of hisspeech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction.
“I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality. the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member’s right to raise people’s concerns on the floor of the House”, he added.
He also said “ It is that right and in the exercise of my obligations to the people of the country. that I was exercising yesterday. Taking off from records my considered remarks go against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy”.
In this context, Rahul Gandhi drew the attention of the Speaker towards the speech of Shri Anurag Thakur whose speech was full of allegations. However, he said surprisingly only one word has been expunged! “With due respect to your good self this selective expunction defies logic . I request that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored”, he said.