Fiery exchange between Rahul and Rijiju in LS; Speaker gives piece of advice to LoP

NEW DELHI — The Lok Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the Leader of Opposition (LOP) Rahul Gandhi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju as the two sparred over adherence to ‘rules and customs’ of the House.

During his speech, Rahul Gandhi trained guns at the Centre on multiple issues, including unemployment, and exam paper leaks, besides taking jibes at the government, drawing protest from the Treasury benches.

This resulted in repeated uproarious scenes in the House, prompting Speaker Om Birla to intervene.

Kiren Rijiju too stood up from his chair and advised the LoP to not ‘cross the limits’ and follow the laid down guidelines.

Rahul Gandhi, speaking on Budget 2024-25, started on a belligerent note and repeated his charge that there is an atmosphere of fear in the country.

“Today, my friends in the BJP are terrified, ministers in the government are scared, while the farmers and workers are also frightened. An atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country,” Rahul Gandhi said, promising that the INDIA bloc will remove this fear.

Rahul Gandhi also cited Mahabharta’s ‘Chakravyuh’ and sought to draw an analogy on how the nation’s youth, farmers, and others were being ‘driven to despair and death’, much like the same way young warrior Abhimanyu was encircled and killed by six men.

As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister intervened, Rahul Gandhi took a scathing jibe at him, saying the “mantra is duty-bound to protect the interests of top businessmen”.

“He has orders from the top and so he is defending them,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Kiren Rijiju then accused Rahul Gandhi of violating the rules and conventions of the House despite repeated objections from the Chair.

“There has been a convention of yielding in the House which everyone must follow,” he said.

Kiern Rijiju also cited the instance of PM Modi’s speech in reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and reminded the Opposition how the Prime Minister was heckled and obstructed during his address.

“The opposition created huge chaos and ruckus in the Parliament during the Prime Minister’s speech but when it comes to your own, your arrogance shows up… You don’t want to yield,” the Union Minister said.

At one moment, Speaker Om Birla also censured Rahul Gandhi over waving a poster in the House, apparently from the Halwa ceremony ahead of the Union Budget, and asked him to “honour the responsible Chair that he holds”.

“As LoP, it is expected from you that you maintain the dignity of the Chair and lead your fellow members in adhering to the rules,” the Speaker said.