'Goes Against Tenets Of Parliamentary Democracy': Rahul Gandhi Urges Speaker To Restore His Speech

Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi shot off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today, urging him to restore the portions of his inaugural speech that has been expunged.

Gandhi accused the Speaker of "selective expunction," claiming that the decision to remove parts of his speech was not uniformly applied.

"I also wish to draw attention to the speech of Anurag Thakur, which was full of allegations, however, surprisingly only one word has been expunged! With due respect to your good self, this selective expunction defies logic," Rahul Gandhi wrote in the letter.

He contended that a major portion of his speech was removed from the parliamentary records under the pretext of expunction. He referenced the uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July, arguing that the expunged parts did not fall under the scope of Rule 380.

"I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380," he stated.

Gandhi stressed that his remarks reflected the ground reality and factual positions. He underscored that every member of the House has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India, allowing them to voice the concerns of the people they represent.

"Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of the people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people's concerns on the floor of the House," he added.

Gandhi argued that the Speaker's action contradicted the core principles of parliamentary democracy.

"The Speaker's action goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy," he wrote. He requested the reinstatement of the expunged remarks.

Several sections of Gandhi's speech, which included critiques of the BJP concerning the NEET row and the Agnipath scheme, were removed from the parliamentary records. His comments on Hinduism, which led to a rare intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were also expunged.

In his initial response to the Speaker's action, Gandhi remarked, "The truth can't be expunged."

He added, "In Modi ji's world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can't be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth," he told reporters before entering the Lok Sabha.