Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath Singh lock horns in Lok Sabha over Gen Naravane’s unpublished memoir

A row erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from the unpublished "memoir" of former Army chief Gen M M Naravane (retd).

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with other BJP members, strongly opposed it and accused the Congress leader of "misleading" the House.

As Gandhi rose to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the president's address, he said he would first like to respond to the charges made by the previous speaker, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, against the Congress on nationalism. He then began quoting from what he stated was the "memoir" of Gen Naravane talking about the India-China conflict of 2020.

However, Singh strongly protested this and asked Gandhi to clarify whether the book had been published or not.

The uproar went on for about 50 minutes, with Speaker Om Birla repeatedly stating that no book or newspaper clipping can be quoted on a matter not related to the proceedings of the House. Gandhi insisted that the document was authenticated and that he could quote from it.

Government sources said Gandhi was reading "concocted things" on China. They said there was ample material in the public domain on the decisions taken by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on China, and alleged that he "surrendered thousands of acres of land just to further his own statesmanship."

Gandhi said he never wanted to speak on the particular issue but decided to do so after BJP's Surya questioned the patriotism of the Congress party.

Singh maintained that the book had not been published. Gandhi then said he was quoting from a magazine article to put forth his views.

Birla again disallowed it, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called for the Speaker's ruling to be adhered to.

Rijiju said if the leader of the opposition repeatedly ignores the Speaker's ruling and flouts rules, the House will have to discuss what action should be taken against such a member.

The minister said Gandhi was setting a wrong example for young MPs by not following the rules of the House.

With Gandhi unrelenting, the Speaker repeatedly warned him against quoting the book.

Singh then got up and asked if the book was not allowed to be published as alleged, then why didn't Naravane go to court against it. The defence minister also accused Gandhi of "misleading the House".

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav supported Gandhi and urged the Speaker to allow the Congress leader to speak.

With both the treasury and opposition MPs unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 pm.

When the House reassembled at 3 pm, Gandhi again attempted to raise the India-China border issue and was met with stiff resistance from the treasury benches.

Rijiju said Gandhi should not say things that belittle the army.

As the deadlock continued, Birla adjourned the House till 4 pm.

Several opposition leaders, including TMC's Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee, RJD's Manoj Jha, and SP chief Yadav, rallied behind Gandhi over the issue.