Deliberate attempt to silence me: Rahul Gandhi writes to Speaker over memoir row
India Today
Rahul Gandhi stressed that national security formed a key part of the President's Address and therefore warranted discussion in Parliament. He reminded the Speaker of his constitutional role, saying that as an impartial custodian of the House, it is the Speaker's Constitutional and Parliamentary responsibility to safeguard the rights of every member, including those of the Opposition.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, registering a strong protest against what he termed an unprecedented denial of his right to speak in the House on a matter of national security.
In his letter, the Congress leader said he was not allowed to speak during the discussion on the Motion on the President’s Address. Gandhi noted that while he was speaking on Monday, the Speaker had directed him to authenticate a magazine he intended to refer to while raising the India-China conflict of 2020.
He said that as per long-standing convention and repeated rulings of past Speakers, a member wishing to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents, a procedure he said he had duly followed.
Thereafter, the Speaker allows the member to quote or refer to the document and it becomes the responsibility of the government to respond, and the role of the Chair stands concluded, Gandhi said.
“Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security,” News agency PTI quoted him as saying.
Gandhi stressed that national security formed a key part of the President’s Address and therefore warranted discussion in Parliament. “It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President’s Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament,” he wrote.
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