New Delhi: According to BJP sources, the ruling party has initiated moves to suspend Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha if he does not apologise in the House for remarks in the UK on Indian democracy.
Sources said that the party has already approached Speaker Om Birla and requested him to form a special committee to explore the possibility of suspending the Wayanad MP from the House. BJP sources said the matter is “not just a privilege issue, it’s much beyond that”.
According to sources, the party has approached the Speaker to constitute a special committee on the lines of the panel constituted to look into the cash-for-query scandal in 2005. A special committee, led by Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal, probed the charges against 10 Lok Sabha MPs and held that their continuance was “untenable” – it led to their expulsion.
If a special committee is formed, the BJP will have a majority in it given its strength in Lok Sabha. A special committee usually submits its report in a month.
Stepping up their attack on Rahul Gandhi for his remark in the UK, BJP leaders, including Union ministers, on Thursday demanded an apology from the Congress leader insisting that he was “not above Parliament”.
However, Congress leaders have ruled out an apology by Gandhi, who met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and sought permission to respond in Parliament to the allegations levelled against him.
Meanwhile, the proceedings in Parliament were disrupted for the fourth straight day on Thursday as the Opposition and treasury benches remained at loggerheads over Rahul Gandhi’s democracy remarks and the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani issue.
Lok Sabha was adjourned Thursday with proceedings lasting just three minutes through the day. In the morning session, the House proceedings had lasted only for two minutes.
As the House reconvened at 2 PM, Rahul Gandhi was present in the House for the first time since the controversy around his remarks in the UK broke out.
Kirit Solanki, who was in the chair, urged members to be seated and stop the sloganeering if they want a debate but the Opposition and treasury benches continued with their slogan-shouting and the House was adjourned for the day just a minute after reconvening.
Trinamool Congress members, with their mouths covered with a black ribbon, had gathered in the Well of the House as the proceedings got underway in the Lok Sabha.
Congress members also trooped in the Well of the Lok Sabha raising slogans but they couldn’t be heard clearly in the din.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged the members to allow the House to function.
With members unrelenting, Birla adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday as amid uproarious scenes with the opposition and treasury benches shouting slogans.
When the Upper House re-assembled for the afternoon session, having been adjourned earlier in the morning, several members were already in the well of the House.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh asked the members to return to their respective seats and allow the proceedings to continue.
As the members continued to shout, he adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi said that he “hoped” that he would be allowed to speak in parliament on the BJP’s allegation that he insulted the country abroad by questioning the state of democracy.
“Today, within one minute of my coming to the House, they adjourned it...I went to parliament with the idea of putting what I feel on the floor of the house,” he said.
“If the Indian democracy was functioning, I would be able to say my piece in parliament. What you are seeing is a test of Indian democracy. Whether an MP is going to be given the same space as those four ministers were given when they raised allegations against me,” he said.
Gandhi also said that he had spoken with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about permission to speak in the house.
“I asked the Speaker for time to speak in the House. It is my right to speak on the floor of the House,” he said, claiming that Birla was “noncommittal” and “smiled”.
Gandhi also hinted that he may speak on the issue on Friday, if the Speaker allows him to speak. “Being an MP, Lok Sabha is my platform to put my views. I cannot speak about it outside the Parliament. I’ve asked the Speaker for time,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi attended Lok Sabha for the first time since the massive row erupted over his comments in London, with at least four Union Ministers demanding his apology in and outside parliament.
The Congress leader further said that the row over his London remarks was “just a distraction” from the questions he had raised in his speech in parliament last month. “I have a fundamental question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s relationship with Gautam Adani. The government and the PM are scared about the Adani issue, therefore this entire controversy has been prepared,” he said.
On the BJP’s allegation that he insulted the nation on foreign soil, the Congress MP said, “I will speak inside the House if they allow me to.”
Several Union Ministers have demanded that Gandhi apologise to the nation for his speeches in the UK, seen to be critical of the government.
“We speak in the interest of the public, but all the anti-India forces and gang have the same language and line. The language spoken by Rahul Gandhi is the same language spoken by those working against India, conspired against India. He will have to apologise in Parliament. It is our duty to seek his apology,” Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters.
“Rahul Gandhi can sink the Congress, we don’t care. But if he tries to harm or insult the nation, we as citizens cannot be silent. Just because the country has rejected the Congress leadership, doesn’t mean he can tarnish the nation abroad,” Rijiju added.
The Congress has ruled out an apology, pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often attacked the Congress on his trips abroad.
“I want to ask those who are seeking an apology that Modiji went to five-six countries and there he (Modi) humiliated our country saying “it was a sin to be born in India”, now these same people are curbing freedom of expression,” Kharge said.
Kharge also accused the government of instigating the Opposition and not letting Parliament function to avoid a discussion on the Adani issue and its “failures”.