Women Members of Parliament from the Congress have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing strong objection to what they called false, baseless, and defamatory allegations made against them regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the House.
The letter follows remarks made by the Speaker on February 5, when he said he had advised the prime minister not to come to the Lok Sabha to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. Birla claimed he had received information that Congress MPs had gathered around the prime minister’s chair and that an untoward incident could have occurred. He later said the actions of women MPs were unnecessary and against the dignity of Parliament.
In their letter, the Congress MPs said the allegations were made under pressure from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and amounted to a serious attack on their integrity. They asserted that their protests were peaceful and within democratic norms, and rejected any suggestion of violence or intimidation.
The MPs also accused the Speaker of failing to uphold parliamentary conventions. They pointed out that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was denied the opportunity to speak during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for four consecutive days, which they described as unprecedented. They also referred to the suspension of INDIA alliance MPs and said a BJP MP was allowed to make vulgar remarks about former prime ministers.
The letter stated that the prime minister’s absence from Parliament was due to fear of facing the Opposition and not because of any threat. The MPs urged the Speaker to act impartially, resist political pressure, and uphold constitutional values to restore the dignity of Parliament.
The letter was signed by S Jothimani, Sudha Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Gandhi, Varsha Gaikwad, Jyotsna Mahant, and Geniben Thakor.