Rahul Gandhi hits out at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, says 'not given chance to speak'

Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla of not giving him a chance to speak, claiming the House was being run in an “undemocratic manner”.

Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, Gandhi expressed frustration that his repeated requests to raise important issues, including the recently concluded Maha Kumbh and the growing issue of unemployment, were repeatedly 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,” Gandhi said, adding that he had been prevented from speaking despite sitting quietly in the House. He further stated, “There is no place for democracy here.”

His remarks came after Speaker Om Birla asked 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.

Gandhi said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak. He said that in the last week he had not been allowed to speak.

Birla said several instances have come to his notice where the conduct of members did not conform to the high standards.

“In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House,” the Speaker said.

“Especially, it is expected of the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself as per the rules,” the Speaker said.

About 70 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, including deputy leader of Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, party general secretary KC Venugopal and party's whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, met the Lok Sabha Speaker and raised the “denial” of opportunity to Gandhi to speak in the House, party sources said.