New Delhi, February 02: The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi attempted to raise a magazine article on the unpublished book by former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Monday in the Lok Sabha, despite opposition from the ruling party and the Speaker’s objections.
Rahul Gandhi’s repeated raising of the issue led to two adjournments and later adjournment for the day.
The Lok Sabha began today with a discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s address. Participating in the discussion, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of the military standoff between India and China on the eastern Ladakh border in 2020. He targeted the ruling party based on a magazine article on the unpublished book by General Naravane, who was the Army Chief at the time. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh objected to this.
The Defense Minister’s objection was that Rahul Gandhi was giving pudding from an unpublished book, which could not be verified. The Lok Sabha Speaker also asked Rahul Gandhi to present only those things in the House which he could verify. Despite this, due to Rahul Gandhi’s raising of the issue, the proceedings of the House were first adjourned till 3 pm and later till 4 pm.
After two adjournments, Rahul Gandhi again tried to raise the issue and said that he was raising the issue of national security and hence he was not being allowed to speak. After this, the proceedings were adjourned till Tuesday.
Participating in the discussion in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi started his statement by saying that BJP leader Tejasvi Surya had raised questions about the patriotism of the opposition.
He said, “The young colleague sitting there (Tejashwi) made an allegation against the Congress. I wasn’t going to raise this issue, but since he questioned our sense of patriotism and our understanding of Indian culture, I want to begin my speech. I want to read something out first. This is taken from the memoirs of former Army Chief General Naravane.”
Home Minister Amit Shah also intervened during Rahul’s statement. He said that Tejaswi Surya did not question the opposition’s patriotism. He questioned the governments’ intentions. Nowhere has the opposition’s patriotism been questioned. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present in the House during this time.
The Lok Sabha Speaker, while ruling on the matter, said that Rahul Gandhi would not raise the issue of former Army Chief General Naravane. When Rahul repeatedly raised the issue, he told him that if he did not want to speak in accordance with the rules and procedures of the House, he would not be allowed to speak. He would call the next speaker. The House would not function with repeated disrespect to the Chair. He then asked Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party to speak as the next speaker.
After this, the House was adjourned until 3 pm, unable to function. When the House reassembled, Rahul Gandhi again raised the China-India issue, a move the ruling party objected to. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “We thought Rahul would improve, but he hasn’t.”
He urged Rahul Gandhi to let the House function, saying he had a lot to say. This is a matter of national security.