Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote to Speaker Om Birla regarding portion of his speech expunged during Motion of Thanks on the President's address on Monday, saying that he sought to "convey the ground reality in the House".
Rahul Gandhi requested that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's speech in Lok Sabha on Monday sparked sharp reactions by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his no-holds-barred attack on the BJP in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Rahul Gandhi accused the leaders of the ruling BJP of dividing people on communal lines, drawing massive protests from the treasury benches.
Parts of Rahul Gandhi's speech were later expunged.
Rahul Gandhi conveyed in his speech that those who resort to violence are not flagbearers of Hinduism as the religion underlines the importance of fearlessness. This prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get up to slam Rahul Gandhi for calling the "entire Hindu community" violent, after which the Congress leader's now-viral comeback "Narendra Modi is not the entire Hindu community" triggered uproar in the House and outside it.
Rahul Gandhi's Letter To Speaker
In his letter seeking the restoration of expunged parts from his Lok Sabha speech, Rahul Gandhi said, "While I Chair dereives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kind of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha."
Rahul Gandhi said that he was "shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion" of his speech "have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction."
"I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people's concerns on the floor of the House," Rahul Gandhi said.
He added that it is that right and in exercise of his obligations to the people of the country, that he was exercising yesterday.
"Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy."
I"n this context I also wish to draw attention to speech of Shri Anurag Thakur whose speech was full of allegations, however, surprisingly only one word has been expunged! With due respect to your good self this selective expunction defies logic," Rahul Gandhi said, requesting that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored.
