What happened on February 4 in Lok Sabha? Kiren Rijiju releases video of chaos that unfolded

Glimpse from video shared by Kiren Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday released a video of the February 4 Lok Sabha proceedings, alleging that Congress MPs created a situation that forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to skip his scheduled reply to the President’s Address.Sharing the footage on X, Rijiju claimed the video showed Congress women MPs crossing over to the treasury benches, holding banners and placards, and surrounding the Prime Minister’s seat. “Congress Party is proud of the most degrading behaviour by their MPs! If we had not stopped all the BJP MPs and allowed the women MPs to confront Cong MPs, it would have led to a very ugly scene,” Rijiju wrote on X.

He also alleged that BJP MPs had to be restrained to avoid a confrontation inside the House.“We had to control our BJP NDA MPs. BJP women MPs were very agitated at this behaviour of the Congress MPs. We stopped our MPs from physical confrontation. Then these MPs went to the Speaker’s Chamber and threatened the Speaker. The BJP women MPs have lodged a complaint. Let us see how the Speaker takes action and the steps he takes forward,” Rijiju said.The minister also reposted another video shared by the Congress, which showed Speaker Om Birla saying that he had requested the Prime Minister not to attend the House after receiving inputs that some Opposition MPs might approach his seat and create an “unprecedented incident.” “We have very high consideration to protect the dignity and sanctity of the Parliament,” Rijiju added.The controversy dates back to February 4, when Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. However, the address was cancelled after Speaker Birla stated that he had received “concrete information” suggesting that certain Congress MPs might attempt to disrupt the proceedings.On Monday, Congress women MPs wrote to Birla strongly objecting to what they called “grave allegations” that they had threatened or attempted to obstruct the Prime Minister inside the House.Rejecting the claims, Congress leaders said the Prime Minister avoided the House because he was “too scared to speak.”The issue escalated further on Tuesday when BJP women MPs wrote to the Speaker backing Birla and accusing Opposition members of unruly conduct. In their letter, the BJP MPs alleged that Congress women MPs had entered the Well of the House, thrown papers towards the Chair, and later surrounded the Prime Minister’s seat.They urged Birla to take “the strongest possible action” against those involved.The BJP letter came as a counter to the Congress MPs’ communication accusing the Speaker of making “false, baseless, and defamatory” claims under pressure from the ruling party.Meanwhile, opposition leaders are planning to submit a notice seeking a resolution to remove the Lok Sabha Speaker from office.