Amid the logjam in the Lok Sabha, the Congress on Thursday hit out at the government and said all opposition parties are united that if Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak on the most important order of business, there is very little opportunity for the House to run.
The opposition party also recalled that on June 10, 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
"There is only one issue in Parliament that is agitating the opposition that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha has been prevented from speaking. When he began to speak raising fundamental issues of security, foreign and defence policy, the prime minister did not want to hear, the home minister did not want to hear, the defence minister did not want to hear," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said.
"The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has said that the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are two interlinked pillars of Parliament. When one is undermined the other is weakened. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha has been prevented from speaking for the past four days....All Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha walked out in protest of the denial of opportunity for the LoP Lok Sabha to speak," Ramesh told reporters in Parliament House complex.
The Congress leader further said that he would like to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP that on June 10, 2004, the then Prime Minister Singh did not reply to the Motion of Thanks because he was prevented from doing so. "The debate had taken place and here the debate has not taken place. Then, the following year, on March 10, 2005, he thanked the President twice, for 2004 and 2005. This is the BJP's track record," he said.
Today, the LoP has not been allowed to speak and all opposition parties are united that if the LoP is not allowed to speak in the most important order of business in which the Budget session commences — the motion of thanks to the President's address — there is very little opportunity for the House to run, Ramesh said.
Ramesh posted on X a video of Singh's speech on March 10, 2005, recalling that the then PM had referred to the fact that he was prevented from replying to the Motion of Thanks on June 10, 2004. On Wednesday night, Ramesh had said that to recall and remind on June 10, 2004, the then prime minister was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
"On March 10, 2005, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh began his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address thus: 'Mr. Speaker, Sir, I deem it a great privilege to be standing here today to express the gratitude of our Government to the respected Rashtrapatiji for his address to members of both Houses of Parliament.'
"'Sir, this is a hard-earned privilege for me since I have had to wait out the entire year to perform this happy task. I would like to take this opportunity to doubly thank the President for her Address last year and her Address this year'," Ramesh recalled.
In the morning, floor leaders of several opposition parties met in Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber and it was decided that the issue of Gandhi "not being allowed to speak" on the President's address would be raised in the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, Kharge raised the matter in the Upper House, even as the government asserted that the proceedings of the Lower House cannot be discussed in the Rajya Sabha.
Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Congress MP and AICC General Secretary organisation K C Venugopal had demanded that Gandhi and other opposition members be allowed to speak on the motion of thanks to the President's address. "Parliament is for debate and discussion. In parliamentary democracy, LoP has a right to speak and initiate the debate which has been completely denied in this House," Venugopal said.
He said the "single point agenda" of the opposition is that the LoP has to be allowed to speak. "Our demand is very clear, let LoP speak. When LoP began his speech, they disrupted the speech and switched off the mic. They passed on the mic to treasury benches. Not a single member from the opposition spoke," he said.
Venugopal reiterated that the LoP and all other opposition party leaders be allowed to speak. "Our fight is to protect parliamentary democracy. LoP must be allowed to speak, other opposition leaders can speak and then the PM can speak," he said.
Meanwhile, the suspended opposition MPs continued their protest on the steps and near the Makar Dwar of Parliament, raising slogans against the government.
In an unprecedented development, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Motion of Thanks on the President's address without the customary speech by Prime Minister Modi, amid vociferous protests by the opposition.
The prime minister was not present in the House when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla put the amendments moved by the opposition to the Motion of Thanks to vote, which were rejected. The Speaker then read out the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address to both Houses of Parliament on January 28, which was passed by a voice vote, amid sloganeering by the opposition members.
As the protests continued, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 2 PM. Congress members stormed the Well, carrying posters with PM Modi's picture and 'Narendra-Surrender' slogan written at the top.
Samajwadi Party members too were in the Well, carrying three banners and pamphlets raising the issue of demolitions at the Manikarnika ghat on the river Ganga in Varanasi. The SP banners carried pictures of Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, who had developed the ghats nearly 300 years ago.
Trinamool Congress members were also in the Well joining the protest, while other members of the INDIA bloc, including the DMK and the Left, stood at their seats and in the aisle in solidarity.
The face-off between the government and the opposition in Lok Sabha had intensified on Tuesday following the suspension of one CPI(M) and seven Congress members for unruly behaviour for the remainder of the Budget session.
