Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla, requesting to include the deleted part of the speech in the record
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday over the removal of parts of his speech in the House from the proceedings of the House. He said in the letter that this is a selective action which is not logical. The Rae Bareli MP urged Birla to include the portion removed from his speech in the record of proceedings again.
On Monday, Rahul Gandhi had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of creating division on communal basis in the country, to which the members of the ruling party had strongly protested. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that calling the entire Hindu society violent is a very serious matter.
Rahul Gandhi, while initiating the discussion on behalf of the opposition on the motion of thanks brought on the President’s address, had said that a Hindu can never commit violence, can never spread hatred and fear. Some parts of his speech were removed from the proceedings of the House as per the instructions of the Chair.
In his letter to Birla, Rahul Gandhi said that the Chairman has the powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House, but this is only for those words whose nature is specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct. He said, ‘I am shocked to see how a large part of my speech has been removed from the proceedings.’
The Congress leader also said, ‘I am constrained to say that the deleted portions do not fall within the purview of Rule 380. What I wanted to say in the House is the ground reality and the factual situation. Every member of the House who represents the collective voice of the people enjoys the freedom of expression enshrined in Article 105 (1) of the Constitution of India. ‘
He stressed that it is the right of every member to raise the concerns of the people in the House. Rahul Gandhi said, ‘I was exercising this right yesterday while fulfilling my obligations towards the people of the country.’ In his letter to Birla, he said, ‘Removing my well-thought-out comments from the record is against the principles of parliamentary democracy.’
Rahul Gandhi said, ‘In this context, I also want to draw attention to the speech of Anurag Thakur (BJP MP), whose speech was full of allegations. However, surprisingly, only one word has been removed from his speech.’ He said, ‘I request that the comments removed from the proceedings be included again.’
Earlier, the Congress leader told reporters in the Parliament House complex, ‘The truth can be exposed in Modi ji’s world, but in reality the truth cannot be exposed. Whatever I had to say, I have said it. That is the truth. Expose as much as you want, but truth is truth.’
