Rule book to history books—Parliament in turmoil, LS adjourned ahead of PM speech

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday again witnessed fierce political confrontation amid accusations of double standards in parliamentary conduct by Opposition parties over Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi “not being allowed to speak”, and the suspension of eight MPs. Matters escalated after alleged derogatory remarks by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against Congress prime ministers—late Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi—and senior leader Sonia Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to respond to the ongoing motion of thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha around 5 PM. However, amid sustained and heated exchanges, the Lok Sabha was adjourned just minutes before his address.

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The BJP alleged that opposition MPs were moving towards the PM’s chair in an “attacking” mode.

According to BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, several Opposition women MPs entered the well of the House and moved towards the chair used by the Prime Minister. “The opposition came with the intention to attack us at 5 PM sharp, (as the House assembled). They surrounded the Prime Minister’s chair,” he was quoted as saying.

Gandhi, however, said, “As I said, PM Modi will not come to Parliament because he is scared and doesn’t want to face the truth.”

Earlier, speaking to the media outside the House, he had said that he would personally present former Army chief General MM Naravane’s memoir to the Prime Minister when he speaks in the House. “I don’t think the PM will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today because if he comes, I am going to give him this book. If the PM comes, I will go physically and hand him this book so he can read it and the country can get to know the truth,” he had said.

A meeting of opposition parties has been called for tomorrow morning to discuss strategy.

The origins of the turmoil trace back to Monday, when Gandhi was barred from quoting an article referencing Naravane’s memoirs concerning the 2020 India-China conflict, followed by the suspension of eight MPs. Congress MPs also strongly protested controversial comments made by Dubey during the motion of thanks to the President’s Address, in which he made “objectionable references” to Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

Heated exchanges were also reported from Speaker Om Birla’s chamber, where MPs from both sides engaged in a prolonged argument, underlining the seriousness of the standoff and the deteriorating relations between the Treasury and Opposition Benches.

Dubey had brought six books into the House and quoted from them while making remarks about Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Despite attempts by the presiding officer to stop him, the BJP MP continued speaking, prompting loud protests from Opposition members and eventually leading to the adjournment of the House.

Opposition leaders accused the government of allowing ruling party members greater leeway while restricting their voices.

Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the government of applying different rules to the Leader of the Opposition and BJP MPs. While Opposition leaders were frequently interrupted, restrained from speaking, or even suspended, BJP MPs were permitted to make provocative statements and quote freely from books without facing consequences, she said, calling it a reflection of a “systematic effort to suppress dissent in Parliament.”

Priyanka also questioned why the government objected when an Opposition member cited a published book, while a BJP MP was allowed to bring multiple books into the House and quote from them uninterrupted.

Rahul Gandhi, who for the past two days had been seeking to quote in the Lok Sabha from the “memoirs” of the former Army chief—which Birla and the Treasury Benches said was against House rules—referred to excerpts of the book outside Parliament to detail how General Naravane “felt isolated during the crisis after what the Prime Minister told him ”.

“The main line is what the PM said – ‘jo uchit samjho wo karo’. When the (former) Chief of Army Staff General Naravane called up Rajnath Singh ji and said that Chinese tanks have reached the Kailash Ridge, so what should we do? First, Rajnath Singh did not respond to him. He asked Jaishankar ji, NSA and Rajnath Singh but received no reply. He then called up Rajnath Singh once again. Rajnath Singh told him that he would ask the ‘top’. The standing order of the ‘top’ was that if Chinese forces come in, we should not fire on them without permission. Naravane ji and our Army wanted to fire on those tanks because they had entered our territory. Narendra Modi ji gave a message that ‘jo uchit samjho wo karo’. It means he told the Army chief to do whatever he wants as ‘mere bas ki nahi hai.’ Naravane ji writes, ‘I felt really alone, I was abandoned by the entire establishment.”

He also alleged that while the memoir had been published abroad, the government was preventing its publication in India.