Not allowed to speak: Rahul hits out at Lok Sabha Speaker

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said no place had been left for democracy in the House and proceedings were being run in an “undemocratic manner”.

Gandhi’s remarks came after Speaker Om Birla asked him to follow the rules of procedure that members were expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament, the LoP said his repeated pleas to raise key issues were ignored.

“I don’t know what is going on... I requested him (the Speaker) to let me speak, but he just ran away and did not let me speak. This is no way to run the House,” the former Congress president said.

Gandhi said he had sought to speak on the recently concluded Maha Kumbh Mela and the growing issue of unemployment but was repeatedly stopped. “I did nothing, I was quietly sitting. Yet, whenever I stand up, I am prevented from speaking. There is no place for democracy here,” he said.

The LoP said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak. He said he had not been allowed to speak in the past one week.

Earlier, the Speaker had asked Raebareli MP to follow rules of the House.

Gandhi’s remarks came after the Speaker urged him to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House. It was not immediately clear what was the reason for the Speaker to make the observation.

However, later it was BJP’s IT cell chief who shared a short clip of Rahul Gandhi touching his sister’s face inside Parliament. “It is disgraceful that the Lok Sabha Speaker has to remind Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, about basic parliamentary decorum. The fact that Congress has imposed this puerile man upon us is truly unfortunate,” Malviya said in a post X.