New Delhi: For the second consecutive day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Tuesday raised the Ladakh standoff issue, despite repeated objections from the Chair to only present “authentic sources”.
The Lok Sabha saw a heated exchange as the opposition MPs continued to accuse the Centre of “misleading” the House on the India-China issue.
Gandhi has been raising the Ladakh standoff issue while quoting from a magazine article linked to an “unpublished book” of former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane.
Even after the Chair issued a ruling stating that no one can quote a news article or magazine, citing Parliamentary rules, the LoP remained adamant about raising the issue.
Gandhi claimed that he was not being given “permission” to speak in the House and said that, being the LoP, “no one can give him any permission to speak”.
“I am objecting to the term permission; it is not the correct word. Because I am not given permission by anyone to speak. I am the LoP… so, I am objecting to that,” Gandhi said.
The opposition MPs continued to protest the rulings of the Chair and demanded that the LoP be allowed to speak on the issue.
“The President’s address was about the path India has to chart, the direction in which India has to move. Today, on the world stage, the main issue in international affairs is the conflict between China and the US. This is central to our President’s address and our budget. And, I want to make a statement about what happened between China and India and how our Prime Minister reacted to it. Why am I being stopped?” Gandhi questioned.
“In Eastern Ladakh, there was a conflict; our soldiers were killed,” he continued, when he was again interrupted by the treasury benches.
Following this, the Chair said, “I made a repeated request to Honourable LoP to speak on the President’s address,” and then he called on the next speaker, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Uttam Patel.
Patel, however, refused to speak. Following this, he called other speakers from the opposition side, but all refused to speak.
Amid the constant sloganeering and ruckus, TDP MP G.M. Harish Balayogi stood up to speak on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
When the uproar did not stop, the House was adjourned till 3:00 p.m.
