PM’s absence from Lok Sabha not due to any threat from us, it was an act of fear: Congress women MPs write to Speaker Birla

Congress women MPs assert PM Modi's absence in Lok Sabha stems from fear, not threats, urging Speaker Birla to remain impartial.

Writing to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, women MPs of the Congress party, on Monday (February 9, 2026), stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the Lok Sabha during the Motion of Thanks to the President, was not due to any threat from them [women MPs]. Instead, they said, it was an act of fear as the Prime Minister does not have the courage to face the Opposition.

Karur MP S. Jothimani’s letter further noted that the women are being “targeted simply because we have consistently fought against Prime Minister Narender Modi’s anti-people government and demanded accountability from him.” The letter, signed by six MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jyotsna Charandas Mahant, R. Sudha, Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, comes on the heels of grave allegations by the Speaker.

Mr. Birla on Thursday (February 5, 2026) said that he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the Lower House to deliver his response to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address since he had “concrete information” that many Congress MPs could carry out an “unexpected act” of protest at the PM’s seat.

In their letter, the MPs alleged that Mr. Birla has been forced by the ruling party to “make false, baseless, and defamatory allegations against women Members of Parliament belonging to the Opposition, particularly from the Indian National Congress.”

The MPs also said that the Leader of Opposition has been “deliberately denied” the opportunity to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3 after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was disallowed by the chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M M Naravane’s ‘unpublished memoir’ in which he has referred to the India-China conflict of 2020.

The letter went on to note that “eight members of Parliament from the INDIA alliance were suspended on the behest of the ruling party and a BJP Member of Parliament was permitted to speak in a vulgar and obscene manner about former Prime Ministers.”