‘Shocked…’: Rahul writes to House Speaker amid wide-ranging controversy over delisting, Rijiju reacts after Congress quotes Anurag Thakur

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the debate on the motion of thanks for the President’s speech, the battle between the government and the opposition over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fiery attack continued till the second day of the ongoing Parliament session. Parts of the opposition leader’s speech, including his remarks on religion and the Agnipath project, have been erased from the archives, even as many NDA leaders demanded that the whole thing be deleted.

Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, wrote to Speaker Om Birla over the deletion of parts of his speech, requesting him to reinstate them. “…I am shocked to see the manner in which considerable portions of my speech have been simply removed from the proceedings under the guise of deletion… To expunge my considered remarks from the proceedings goes against the very principles of parliamentary democracy…” he wrote in his letter, adding that such selective deletions defy logic.

In his letter, the Congress MP also alleged that Birla was biased towards BJP MP Anurag Thakur, whose speech was full of accusations but a single word was deleted. Gandhi’s claims were supported by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, who said, “The letter is in the hands of the President. We believe the President will act accordingly.”

Venugopal also raised the issue of Thakur’s remarks being quashed and Gandhi’s speech being treated differently. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said: “If the opposition feels that someone from our camp has said something, they can take a stand. They are free to take a stand if they feel that something is not in accordance with the rules.”

In the Lok Sabha, Venugopal launched another similar attack and said he was challenging the Prime Minister to inquire about electoral bonds, which he called “one of the biggest scams”. “…Delhi airport roof has collapsed, Jabalpur airport roof has collapsed, Rajkot airport canopy has collapsed, Ayodhya roads are bad, Ram Mandir leakage, Mumbai Port Link Road cracks, three new bridges have collapsed in Bihar, Pragati Maidan tunnel has been submerged, all these constructions during the NDA period have collapsed. Under their rule, every building is under threat of collapse… I challenge the Prime Minister to enquire about electoral bonds… One of the biggest scams the country has ever seen is the electoral bond scam…”, he said in his reply to the Lok Sabha debate.

Later, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj filed a notice under Directive 115 in the Lok Sabha regarding Gandhi’s speech. “MP Rahul Gandhi made several inaccurate statements in his speech yesterday…” she said.

“The aforesaid statements made by the LoP in the Lok Sabha are factually incorrect and misleading in nature and therefore, appropriate proceedings should be initiated as contemplated under Rule 115. I, therefore, request you to kindly take cognizance of the deliberate inaccuracies made by Rahul Gandhi and take necessary action,” the notice read.

But what exactly did Rahul Gandhi say in his speech that was deleted?

Hours after the cancellation, Gandhi said truth could be erased in Modi’s world. “Whatever I had to say, I have said and that is the truth. They can erase as much as they want, but truth will prevail,” he told reporters at the Parliament complex. “Truth can be erased in Modi ji’s world, but in reality, truth cannot be erased.”

Gandhi’s unabashed attack on the BJP on Monday (July 1) sparked massive protests from treasury members and a rare intervention by the prime minister, who lambasted the Congress leader for his “irresponsible speech” and for calling the entire Hindu community violent. However, passages from his speech that said the ruling party’s leaders are not Hindus because they indulge in “violence and hatred” round the clock have been deleted. His criticism of the central government’s Agnipath scheme for the armed forces and alleged discrimination in payment of allowances and pensions to Agniveers have also been deleted, as have other passages in which he referred to the destitute Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.

There was much uproar in the Lok Sabha when Union Home Minister and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also interrupted Gandhi in retaliation for his comments on Agnipath, as well as farmers and farm laws.

Responding to Gandhi’s statement that he was not a Hindu, the Prime Minister accused him of calling the entire Hindu community violent. “It is a big crime to call all Hindus violent. ‘Hindu samaaj ko hinsak kehna galat hai’,” he said. Shah also asked Gandhi to apologise to the House and the country for hurting the sentiments of millions of people who proudly identify themselves as Hindus.

Rajnath Singh asked Gandhi to provide facts on his allegations regarding compensation to Agniveers in case of death. He retorted Gandhi saying that he should not try to mislead the House by making false statements as a financial assistance of Rs 1 crore is given to the family of the Agniveer “who sacrifices his life to protect our borders or during war”.

(With PTI inputs)