New Delhi: A heated row erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the unpublished “memoir” of former Army Chief Gen (retd) M.M. Naravane, drawing strong objections from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, who accused him of “misleading” the House.
As Gandhi rose to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, he said he wanted to respond to charges made by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya regarding the Congress party’s nationalism. He then began quoting from what he described as Gen. Naravane’s memoir.
However, Singh protested, demanding clarification on whether the book had been published. The uproar lasted around 50 minutes, with Speaker Om Birla repeatedly stating that no book or newspaper clipping could be quoted on matters unrelated to House proceedings. Gandhi, in turn, insisted that the document was authenticated and he could quote from it.
Government sources claimed that Gandhi was reading “concocted things” on China, and noted that much information about India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his handling of China was already in the public domain. Gandhi clarified that he did not intend to speak on the matter initially but was prompted to respond after Surya questioned the Congress party’s patriotism.
Singh maintained that the memoir had not been published. Gandhi then stated that he was quoting a magazine article to put forth his views. The Speaker disallowed this, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called on members to adhere to the Speaker’s ruling. He warned that repeated disregard of House rules by the Leader of the Opposition could compel the House to discuss potential action, adding that Gandhi was setting a wrong example for young MPs by flouting parliamentary rules.
As Gandhi persisted, the Speaker repeatedly cautioned him against quoting from the book. Singh further asked that if the book was indeed unpublished, why Gen. Naravane had not approached the court against it, accusing Gandhi of misleading the House.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav supported Gandhi, urging the Speaker to allow him to speak. With both treasury and opposition members refusing to relent, the Speaker adjourned the House until 3 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.
With PTI inputs