The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed heated exchanges and an Opposition walkout after Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha.
Kharge raised the issue of Gandhi, but when he started to read excerpts from an unpublished book of former army chief M M Naravane, he was disallowed, leading to a walkout by Opposition benches.
Soon after the House mourned the passing of a former MP and tabling of listed papers during the Zero Hour, Kharge raised the issue of his counterpart in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi, not being allowed to speak. "He (Gandhi) wanted to speak about the country's interest," Kharge said.
Before he could complete, Chairman C P Radhakrishnan gave the floor to the Leader of the House and Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, saying the proceedings of the Lok Sabha cannot be discussed in the Upper House as per the rulings of the Chair.
He said if the Congress party was interested, its leaders should advise their Lok Sabha MPs to join the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address to the joint sitting of Parliament in the Lower House, and proceedings in the Rajya Sabha should be allowed to continue uninterruptedly.
The chairman thereafter called for the listed Zero Hour mentions to be taken up. At this point, Congress MPs started shouting slogans about democracy being "throttled".
The Chairman then gave the floor to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who said he was surprised by the issue being raised in the Rajya Sabha after three days of smooth debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President.
"We all are expecting everyone to follow the rules and traditions... All the members (MPs) are waiting to listen to the speech of the Prime Minister today. If the Congress party does not want to listen to the Prime Minister, (it is their) personal choice. We don't want to impose on them, but other members want to listen to the Prime Minister. How can they stop (that)," he said.
He repeated Nadda's submission that the proceedings of the Lok Sabha should not be mentioned in the Rajya Sabha with its own procedure and set of rules for the conduct of business.
"Your Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha (Rahul Gandhi) does not follow rules... does not follow the ruling of the Speaker," he said, asking Kharge why he did not stop Gandhi from going astray.
"Instead of counselling him, you yourself are doing this," he said, adding that the House should be allowed to function as per the rules and not bring in extraneous issues.
Kharge said Congress does not want to disturb the proceedings of the House. Lok Sabha isn't functioning for the past four days because the Leader of the Opposition is not being allowed to speak, he said.
Parliament is made up of both houses. It is not made up of one House, he said.
"These two (Houses) are pillars (of Parliamentary democracy), but one pillar is paralysed to hide your failures... when Gandhi wants to speak (on the failures), you are irritated," he said, referring to the government.
Chairman Radhakrishnan said what happened in the Lok Sabha should not be discussed in the Upper House.
Kharge, however, persisted and buttressed his argument by saying that bills passed in the Lok Sabha come to the Rajya Sabha for discussion.
As he again raised the point that Gandhi not being allowed to speak was not good for democracy and the country, the chairman allowed Nadda to speak.
Nadda said the government is ready for discussion in all forms and at all times. The Prime Minister was sitting ready to respond to the debate in Lok Sabha, but they did not allow the House to function, he said.
Disrupting the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha after a smooth debate over the past three days is condemnable, he said. "When we are ready to go into every minute detail, let the discussion take place."
He went on to advise Kharge that he should not allow his party to be held hostage to an "ignorant child".
"Apni party ko abodh balak ka bandhak nahi banaye (Don't make your party hostage to an ignorant child)," he said, referring to Gandhi.
Kharge should impress upon his party leaders to work within democratic principles, he said.
"Yaha par abhiman, ahankar aur abodh ho kar (kaam nahi karna chahiye)... 'abodh aur ahankar' are deadly mixture aur is se bach kar ke rahe (you shouldn't let pride, arrogance and ignorance dictate as arrogance and ignorance is a potent combination and you should stay away from it)".
He advised Kharge, who is the Congress president, to run the party independently and not allow it to become hostage to the "abodh balak".
Kharge condemned the use of the "abodh balak" term for Gandhi and alleged that BJP MPs can't even speak their mind.
He said the ministers cannot lecture his party as the BJP is crushing democracy. He said Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are not independent, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House should be allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks.
Radhakrishnan cited the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's suggestion of not referring to the proceedings of the Lok Sabha in the Rajya Sabha, leading to the Chairman expunging such a remark.
As opposition was staging a walkout around 11.40 AM, Nadda said, "What kind of democracy is this where the Opposition will decide rules...here (RS) too, the opposition was stopped, and they walked out. This is not the way democracy functions."
