NEW DELHI: Opposition and BJP MPs engaged in a heated exchange in Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s office over remarks by Nishikant Dubey targeting the Gandhi family.After the Lok Sabha’s proceedings were adjourned, Congress MPs met Speaker Om Birla to protest the Chair’s decision to allow Dubey speak against the Gandhi family. In a video shared by news agency IANS, Congress MPs, including Deepender Singh Hooda, were seen protesting inside Birla’s office. Meanwhile, Union minister Kiren Rijiju, amongst other BJP MPs, was also present from the ruling party.This comes after Dubey, during the Lok Sabha proceedings, listed several books and spoke about what they said regarding various members of the Gandhi family.Dubey said that while Rahul Gandhi wants to speak about an unpublished book, he has brought a series of books to expose the Gandhi family.Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, said he could not allow this as the Speaker had already given a ruling disallowing such comments. Tenneti cited Rule 349, which bars members from reading from any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House. Subsequently, the House was adjourned till 5 pm.Earlier, proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm following vociferous protests by Opposition members over certain issues related to the unpublished “memoir” of former Army chief M M Naravane. Congress members had brought banners and posters featuring the former Army chief and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while Rahul Gandhi was seen flashing a book in the House.Since Monday afternoon, the House has been witnessing an uproar after Rahul was disallowed from quoting an article that cited the unpublished “memoir” of Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict.Rahul insisted on raising the issue of the India-China confrontation of August 2020 and was interrupted repeatedly by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and later Home Minister Amit Shah, who asked him not to quote from any unverified source.On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, registering his “strongest protest” over being denied the opportunity to speak on the President’s address during the ongoing Budget session.He described the restriction as a “blot on our democracy” and alleged that the government is “scared” of what is written in the book.
