Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, categorically stated that the aim of the Opposition is that the House should function and discussions take place.

He made the statement after meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a demand to expunge alleged derogatory remarks made against him in the House.

Advertisement

Addressing the media on the premises of Parliament, Gandhi said, “I met the Speaker and told him that the derogatory comments made against me should be removed. The Speaker said he would look into it.”

Referring to the ongoing Parliament logjam, he said, “Our aim is that the House should function and there should be discussion. They can say whatever they want about me, but we want discussion in the House.”

“It was decided to debate on the Constitution on 13th December. The debate should take place,” je added.

Attacking the BJP-led government at the Centre on the issue related to billionaire businessman Gautam Adani, he said, “The Modi government does not want discussion on Adani. They want to divert the issue, but we will continue to raise the issue.”

Notably, Gandhi had accused the BJP-led NDA government of protecting Adani and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.

Earlier in the day, in a unique form of protest, Congress MPs staged a demonstration on the Parliament premises and distributed roses and tricolour among the ruling party members. They were demanding a debate on various issues, including the Adani row. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House took the lead and gave a rose and tiranga to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

It may be mentioned here that Adani was indicted by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged bribery. The Adani Group denied the allegations made by the US DoJ and the US SEC and said all possible legal recourse will be sought.