Monsoon session: 'I am never allowed to speak', says Rahul Gandhi; BJP hits back
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NEW DELHI: Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi
on Monday said that as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, it is his right to speak in the House, but he was not being allowed to do so while members of the government were making their statements.
Gandhi made these remarks to the media after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the second time following protests by opposition parties. The opposition had demanded a discussion on
Operation Sindoor
on the first day of the Monsoon session.
"The question is that the defence minister and their (the
BJP
) people are allowed to speak, but if someone from the opposition wants to say something, he is not allowed," Gandhi said.
"I am the Leader of Opposition, it is my right, I am never allowed to speak," he said, adding that this is a "new approach".
Gandhi also commented on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he "ran out of the House in a second".
"The debate will happen if they allow it, but the issue is that the convention states that if the people from the government say something, we should also be given space. We wanted to say two words, but the opposition was not allowed," he said.
Earlier in the day, following obituary references, opposition members led by the Congress demanded a discussion on Operation Sindoor.
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Under this operation, the Armed forces carried out attacks on Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam.
Speaker Om Birla told the House that all issues, including Operation Sindoor, could be raised after Question Hour, which is the first hour of the session when members ask questions related to different ministries and departments.
"I will allow you to raise all issues after Question Hour. The House will function only through rules and regulations.
It cannot allow sloganeering and raising of placards," Birla said.
BJP hits back at Rahul
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back at the leader of the opposition, saying that his intention is not to allow the session to function. "Their intention is not to allow the session to function. Their intention is to not allow the discussion on valour of the armed forces. The Lok Sabha Chairman kept on saying that they will be allowed after the Question Hour, but they disturbed.
The Opposition is a disturbing element... People are seeing all this," BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said while talking to reporters.
BJP leader Jagdambika Pal also targeted Rahul, saying "You would have seen, I was continuously saying from the chair, the Speaker said that whatever issues that will be raised, the government is ready to answer. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister stood up, there is his business advisory committee meeting, the government is ready to answer, the defence minister reiterated... The way they did not allow the first day of the Monsson Session to function, it seems it was premeditated.
"
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