Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the Motion of Thanks for the President's address in Lok Sabha had to be cancelled today after massive protests by the Opposition led to multiple adjournments.
Congress's Rahul Gandhi - who has been claiming that the government did not allow him to not allowed to quote from the unpublished memoirs of of former Army chief MM Naravane because it was "scared" - alleged that PM backed out from speaking because he was afraid.
The ruckus -- on since Rahul Gandhi's proposed speech and yesterday's suspension of eight Opposition MPs after extensive protests - had escalated over comments by the BJP's Nishikant Dubey.
Dubey said while Rahul Gandhi wants to speak about an unpublished book, he (Dubey) has brought a series of books to expose the Gandhi family. Then he started listing the books and what they said about various members of the Gandhi family.
Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was on the Chair, said he could allow this, citing Rule 349, which bars members from reading from any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House.
As Dubey refused to relent despite the admonition, Opposition members strongly protested. The house was then adjourned again.
What Rahul Gandhi said
Gandhi - who claimed that the government was trying to stop him from speaking on the very relevant issue of national security - said earlier today that he would present a book to PM that exposes how political leadership left the army to act alone during the 2020 China border crisis.
"Today, if the Prime Minister comes to Parliament, I will present him with a book. This book is not by any opposition leader. This book is not by any foreign author. This book is by the country's former Army Chief, General Naravane, and the surprising thing is that, according to the Cabinet Ministers, this book does not even exist," read a rough translation of his Hindi his post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
He has suggested that he was deliberately stopped from speaking and even wrote to Speaker Om Birla about the matter yesterday after eight Opposition MPs were suspended for the rest of the winter session.
After the Prime Minister's speech was cancelled, Gandhi posted: As I said, PM Modi won't come to Parliament because he is scared and doesn't want to face the truth.
His sister, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also made a similar claim, saying the Prime Minister was "too scared to enter parliament".
Ruckus Through The Day
Earlier, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm following vociferous protests by Opposition members over issues related to Naravane's "memoirs".
Later, the Congress MPs held a demonstration outside the Parliament building demanding that Gandhi be allowed to speak on the President's address.
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